The story of antique collector Ma Weidu
The 61-year-old Ma Weidu is famous. He is knowledgeable, lively and full of personality. He is aloof, arrogant, and shrewd. He has always been active in the world, and there are always legends about him in the world.
Some people envy Ma Weidu for his wealth, while others admire him for his erudition and wisdom. From a grassroots person to a national treasure-level cultural scholar, he actually relied on two words: precision.
It is no exaggeration to say that his life is legendary: from editor, writer, film and television screenwriter, to cultural relics connoisseur, museum curator, Audi Yingjiehui cultural ambassador, talk show speaker, cultural celebrity, and finally fame and fortune. Double harvest.
How did he do it?
In 1981, 26-year-old Ma Weidu was still a machine tool miller. As a literature lover, he wrote a love novel "The Moon Is Full Tonight". "China Youth Daily" published this novel on a full page. No one expected that Ma Weidu's fate would change from then on.
After the novel was published, Ma Weidu was transferred to the editor of "Youth Magazine". In the most dazzling era of literature, this was a particularly privileged status. When a reader submitted a manuscript, he casually wrote "The manuscript is OK, come and see", and others came to see him happily. It was then that he discovered Wang Shuo and Su Tong, as well as Liu Zhenyun, Mo Yan and others who were regular visitors to the office.
In addition to editing, Ma Weidu has also been insisting on creating, and has achieved outstanding results. The China Youth Society once held a large-scale symposium for him and Gu Cheng, with him representing novels and Gu Cheng representing poetry.
But just when his literary career was in full swing, Ma Weidu chose to retire from the world.
He said: “I used to think that literature was so sacred that I mistakenly thought that I could devote myself to literature all my life. Later, I only worked for ten years. After seeing the speed of literature’s rise and decline, and seeing the kind of situation in the literature industry, In 1990, Ma Weidu disappeared from the literary world and entered the film and television industry. Together with Wang Shuo, Liu Zhenyun and others, he established the "Haima Film and Television Studio". Ma Weidu served as the secretary-general. Launched the well-known "Story of the Editorial Department".
Subsequently, "Haima Film and Television Studio" produced "Haima Dance Hall". The film was not finished yet, and his film and television career was raging. However, after Ma Weidu saved his first pot of gold, he gradually faded out of the film and television industry, and plunged into the then-unpopular field of antique collecting, and began his treasure hunting journey.
"Ma Weidu, a scholar" became "Ma Weidu, a businessman". This was another major transformation in his life, from which we can also see his precise grasp of the pulse of the times.
At that time, the Chinese antiques market was still in its infancy. Ma Weidu's treasure hunt can only start from the "vegetable market". At that time, when vegetable farmers came to Beijing to sell vegetables, they would bring along their most valuable old items. Ma Weidu started buying "official kiln" for two yuan, until it appreciated to 200,000 yuan. "At that time, you went to the street stalls and there were treasures all over the floor. I was just choosing among the treasures." In 1982, Ma Weidu spent 1,600 yuan to buy his first official collection - four screens. . Since then, his passion for collecting has been out of control. When he bought the porcelain he found at the stall and took it home, he lay on the bed and touched it all night long. "The first is to entertain the eyes, and the second is to ponder." Before most people realized the value of artworks, he had already "entered the Tao".
During this period, he successfully lurked in street stalls to "pick up leaks." I found a plate from the Yongzheng official kiln. In 1987, such a plate cost less than 500 yuan (at that time, the monthly income of civil servants was only two to three hundred yuan). Today, it has been auctioned for hundreds of thousands, even millions.