-Interview with agricultural worker party member Deng Xiuhu.
Ren Yang
Deng Xiuhu, a master of arts and crafts, was famous at home and abroad for his amazing artistic achievements in the field of micro-writing more than ten years ago. He is known as the king of micro-writing in the world and also known as Superman. Although I have known him for many years, I still can't imagine why there is such a detached inner expression under his tall and simple appearance. How can such a big hand and foot have an indissoluble bond with micro-books? In March this year, I had the honor to visit his new home. His talk is always easy-going and modest, and his slightly shy smile reveals indifference and tranquility. Unexpectedly, he experienced so many hardships and setbacks.
Wizards have suffered a lot since ancient times.
1955, Deng Xiuhu was born in a clerk's family in Jiang 'an County, southern Sichuan. Due to the hardships of life, Deng Xiuhu, who is less than 10, has to climb more than 20 miles of mountain roads with his mother and brother to cut wood in the mountains around 3 am every day. He is often weak from hunger, crying while walking, and picking up charcoal flowers on the ash pile in the brick and tile factory. When I'm a little older, I'll go to Dadu River as a temporary worker and tie a raft.
When I was a child, Deng Xiuhu was a little different: chopping wood and carrying water was no better than her peers, but she could learn spinning and embroidery from her grandmother and mother, but she was clever and better than girls. The father who is proficient in pen and ink thinks that this is his son's talent and is most suitable for practicing calligraphy and painting, so he began to strictly urge his son to practice calligraphy every day. Strangely, Deng Xiuhu fell in love with it as soon as he practiced. He writes in the sand and draws on the ground with branches and charcoal. The front and back covers of the exercise books and textbooks issued by the school are all filled with his words. After entering middle school, he gradually learned about China calligraphers' Wang Ti God, Liu Ti's bones, Yan Ti's tendons and Su Ti's qi.
197 1 year, after graduating from junior high school, Deng Xiuhu was swept into the ravine by the torrent of going to the countryside. After hard labor training, he was transformed from a weak boy into a strong man. He can pick more than 300 kilograms of gravel at a time, walk more than five miles of mountain roads and eat more than one kilogram of fat and rice at a time. Deng Xiuhu benefited a lot from her hard-working spirit and strong physique in her later creative career. In the life of educated youth, many people spend their lives in restless and wandering prodigals, but Deng Xiuhu has not wasted his golden years. Almost every night, he lies under the dim kerosene lamp, reading and practicing calligraphy, deeply intoxicated in another vast world, and enjoys it.
Once, in order to participate in the regional slide show competition, Jiang 'an cinema invited Deng Xiuhu, who was already famous in Jiang 'an at that time, to draw slides with small pictures and fonts. As a result, he won the first prize in the competition. Deng Xiuhu was overjoyed and his confidence doubled. He suddenly discovered a potential of his own. He can write small words that ordinary people think are just pockmarked with the naked eye. So, he wanted to know if he could write smaller and smaller ... Since then, Deng Xiuhu has formed an indissoluble bond with Weishu. Finally, he can write more than 60 words on a bean and 1000 words on a movie ticket.
1975, sichuan fine arts institute went to Jiang 'an to enroll students, and had long dreamed of studying. Deng Xiuhu, eager for further study, wrote on two peas with a brush, one with 600 words and the other with more than 800 words. Beautiful handwriting and vigorous brushwork amazed the admissions teacher and immediately expressed her willingness to recruit Deng Xiuhu. Who knows, the quota was forcibly taken away alive by people with "back arms", and Deng Xiuhu was so angry that he destroyed his beloved "Four Treasures of the Study". He was in pain and at a loss. However, his enthusiasm for the art of calligraphy and his stubbornness in refusing to bow to fate made him finally survive and began to study and practice calligraphy more diligently. He believes that "hard work will pay off."
The spring breeze of reform promotes wonderful work.
1978, the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Party was held, and the spring breeze of reform blew the land of China green. After the college entrance examination system was restored, Deng Xiuhu was admitted to neijiang normal College, ending his eight-year educated youth career in Dashangou. He can devote himself to studying and studying calligraphy. During my college years, I ranked first in the calligraphy competition of the whole school and second in the calligraphy competition of college students in Sichuan Province. After graduation, Deng Xiuhu was assigned to Quxian Middle School in Dabashan District as an English teacher. After teaching, he often exerts his micro-book potential to the extreme to experience a sense of pleasure and satisfaction of innovation.
When Deng Xiuhu was almost thirty years old, he made himself understand and let the world believe that he was a wizard. At this time, more than ten years of stubbornness, regardless of harvest, have perfected his micro-writing art. 1984, Deng Xiuhu came across a piece of news published in Art World: "The Beauty of Wanzi". It is said that Zhu Nianci, an old man from Hangzhou Wuxing Fanji Factory, wrote more than 1. 1 1,000 words on a nine-inch fan, which caused a sensation in the United States. This news is a great blow to Deng Xiuhu. He suddenly realized that after the reform and opening up, he had the opportunity to show himself to the outside world. He couldn't help crying. "Yes, I can do it!" He even couldn't wait to buy a good fan, so he started his micro-book creation on an ordinary 7-inch paper fan worth 20.9 cents. Without samples and the guidance of famous teachers, Deng Xiuhu put 300 20800-word Tang poems on a paper fan after 250 nights' efforts, which nearly doubled the world record and made a sensation. However, there are mountains outside the mountains, and there are days outside, which coincides with the prosperous times and talents come forth in large numbers. Since then, the new micro-book has surpassed Deng Xiuhu in China. What should we do? Deng Xiuhu, who won the first battle, is full of confidence in himself. After repeated thinking, he thinks that mechanically copying words on the fan can't really reflect the charm of micro-books. If calligraphy and painting are integrated, wouldn't it be more strange and wonderful? Then, after eight months of spare time, a small paper fan of 3264 Tang poems ***804 1 1 word 274 poets stood out. When you open this water mill white jade paper fan, you are greeted with a picture of ancient military forces and horses in vast expanse with deep artistic conception, which reproduces the ancient battlefield scene in Du Fu's Chedian. Traffic is heavy and Ma Xiaoxiao is filled with smoke, killing each other. Under the magnifying glass, this picture is actually a clear and orderly brush regular script. Li Banli, chairman of Sichuan Calligraphy Association, saw this work and even claimed to be good, and wrote an inscription praising it as "Exquisite China". Dozens of news organizations in China reported on it, which set off a powerful micro-book shock wave. After many twists and turns, this 80,000-word micro-book paper fan art treasure was finally collected by the Royal British Museum. Deng Xiuhu has thus become the "king of micro-books in the world".
Deng Xiuhu said, "This success has given me great encouragement and strengthened my confidence in continuing to explore the micro-field of micro-calligraphy in China." . In order to tap the potential and reach a new height, Deng Xiuhu made great efforts to launch the third, fourth and fifth works one after another, each of which was more exquisite than the last, with words ranging from 80,000, 65,438+10,000 and120,000 to 270,000! Each word is only 0.4 mm square! 1987, Deng Xiuhu donated his 100,000-word Tang poetry fan composed of six Chinese characters to the country through the Central Committee of the Agricultural Workers' Party. His spirit and actions of loving the motherland and art have been highly praised by the state.
In order to make Deng Xiuhu's creation undisturbed, the state transferred him from Quxian Middle School to Chengdu Wenjiang Cultural Center, specializing in the creation and research of micro-book art. The new environment and conditions deeply reflect the love and respect of the party and the state for talents. Deng Xiuhu is lucky. He caught up with the great opportunity of reform and opening up, respected knowledge and talents, and enabled Deng Xiuhu to give full play to his talents. The world cultural exchange brought by the reform and opening up pushed him to the world, stepped onto the throne of the peak of micro-book art, and won honor for the motherland.
The hardships behind success
With lofty ideals, persistent pursuit and amazing perseverance, Deng Xiuhu succeeded. But the hardships behind success are unimaginable to ordinary people. Deng Xiuhu has a pair of strange eyes. No matter how he used them, they were not damaged at all. According to Xu Guangdi, an authoritative ophthalmologist in China and the maker of the current eye chart, Deng Xiuhu's left eye vision is 7.06, and his right eye vision is 6, while the normal eye vision is only about 1.5. Deng Xiuhu said: "The biggest difference between me and others in the art of micro-writing is that I only have vision without any magnifying tools." Deng Xiuhu has a pair of unique eyes and can always feel the wonderful scenery of "a sand and a paradise" better than others. Because of this, he is called "Wonder Man" and "Superman".
In fact, Deng Xiuhu is also an ordinary person with flesh and blood and feelings. He said: "Over the years, I have given up the happiness of my family and lost interest in friendship between friends. When others are sitting in front of the TV, at the chessboard table, or taking a leisurely walk and chatting, I lie prone on the table, tense every nerve and concentrate on writing down every stroke. Writing micro-books cannot be as chic as ordinary calligraphy. You need to hold the pen very tightly, and only when you pour it out with' a thousand forces' can you receive' a little force'. You need to focus on your feelings and sight, turn your strength at will, write at will, and drop ink at will. If your power is dispersed, your power will be chaotic. If your power is chaotic, you will fail, and even lead to the failure of the whole work. When writing, my eyes are only about ten centimeters away from the tip of the pen. Over time, my eyes were swollen, painful and tearful. The most annoying thing is that the 40-watt light bulb must be close to the nib to get enough brightness, but after a few minutes, it will make me sweat, but not only can I not blow the electric fan, but I also have to breathe deeply, because the fan can't move, and it may be destroyed if I shake it a little. Hard and meticulous work made me forget everything. Sometimes I don't even know when it's time to eat. It is common to have a meal with a cup of sugar water and a meal a day. " Especially in Quxian Middle School, Deng Xiuhu has ten classes every week, and the whole creation can only be squeezed into his spare time. Living conditions are also very difficult. A dilapidated wooden house of less than 20 square meters is dark and damp, and pots, beds, desks and bookshelves are all crowded together. In addition, the house is very close to the playground, and there are people living upstairs. It won't be quiet until midnight. What's more, nutrition can't keep up. Day after day, year after year, Deng Xiuhu vomited blood and was admitted to the hospital, but there were more and more rumors. What: want to show off, do nothing, want to get political capital ...? He said: "At the moment I heard these words, I was very confused and confused, but when I calmed down, my mood showed a clear and open mind. I found that my role on the stage of life is a feeling and reality, and this feeling and reality is the embodiment of my own value. So there is no turning arrow before opening the bow. I am determined to go this way! " His words are full of the desire to reflect his own value and the spirit of perseverance and persistent pursuit.
For the sake of art, Deng Xiuhu really lost a lot in his personal life. His ex-wife left him, his friends alienated, and he even left a stigma of unfilial parents. Deng Xiuhu has written millions of words in his micro-writing career for more than 20 years, and each word takes an average of 1 minute to complete. The damaged pens need to be counted in bundles. It is conceivable how difficult Deng Xiuhu spent in the Spring and Autumn Period. But there are gains and losses, and the choice of gains and losses can best reflect people's value orientation and pursuit of life goals. As Deng Xiuhu said, "Although I experienced hardships and setbacks in the creation of micro-books, I realized the joy of pursuing and the joy of success." Deng Xiuhu found a life that best reflects his own value between gains and losses.
Art is endless, and the environment is artificial.
The pursuit of art is endless. Deng Xiuhu's next plan is to write four classic works, Dream of Red Mansions, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Water Margin and The Journey to the West, with a brush on a mirror screen with a total area of 2.5 square meters in eight years. In addition, China's tens of thousands of poems, words, poems and essays in the past dynasties constitute the 30 most famous emperors' statues in the history of China. These unparalleled large-scale creations will add one brilliant flower after another to the world art treasure house.
In recent years, in order to meet the needs of different levels, Deng Xiuhu has also produced some exquisite small creations for viewing and as gifts. He hopes that more people can understand the unique charm of micro-book art through his works, and he also hopes that this art can be imitated by others. He said, "I don't take this stunt as my personal property. I think art will belong to all mankind. " Among those who ask me for advice, I teach without reservation those who have basic knowledge of calligraphy and good eyesight. Although several disciples didn't learn because of their own eyesight, they all agreed that I had made great efforts to teach them. "Indeed, Deng Xiuhu became the king of the world's micro-books. In addition to his efforts the day after tomorrow, he also has a pair of unusual eyes and an extraordinary understanding and grasp of the micro-world, which is beyond the reach of ordinary people.
After interviewing Deng Xiuhu, Deng Xiuhu in my eyes is not the Deng Xiuhu I met many years ago. Although it is still so invisible, it is less mysterious and more understanding and admiration. I sincerely wish this young master more remarkable achievements in the field of micro-book art.