Chapter 18 Huang Yongyu misses a group of old men alone
The 80-year-old Mr. Huang Yongyu's old tree has sprouted new shoots. His new work counts Qian Zhongshu, Shen Congwen, Li Keran, Zhang Leping, Lin Fengmian, Liao Bingxiong, Huang Miaozi and other friends one by one. The humorous language and uninhibited illustrations are still the usual yellow style.
The book has been reprinted since it was published in July, and many bookstores are currently sold out and waiting for the third printing.Why is an old man who should belong to the last century so attractive?
A few days ago, the reporter went to the suburbs of Beijing and conducted an exclusive interview with Mr. Huang. site
Wanhe Hall Master Solo Kennel
Huang Yongyu once joked that "there are three cabins, I can sit and sleep; my wife has one, see her on the left, and see her on the right." In fact, there are four homes he often lives in: Wanhetang in Beijing , Duocui Building in Fenghuang, Hunan, countless villas in Italy, and small houses in Hong Kong. Judging from the pictures displayed on the Internet, each home is a masterpiece of art.
Through the mist of early autumn and the open green field, a piece of antique building with blue brick hanging corners appeared in the field of vision like a mirage, like a small order from the south of the Yangtze River accidentally left on the land of North China, two thick and strong gates And the wall full of green radishes to isolate the noise of the world, this is the famous Wanhe Hall.
Following the sound of slapping on the gate, there was the sound of dogs barking like thunder. Someone opened a door, but no one was seen. Two dogs poked their heads out quickly.After being ushered into the gate, we discovered that there were more than a dozen dogs of different breeds sitting or lying down on the bluestone road leading to the main house. Some were as fat as bears, and some were as shrewd as wolves. At this time, they all stood up vigilantly and surrounded us. They kept barking, and some even put their front legs on people's shoulders.
Walking tens of meters, a gate shuts the dogs out, and suddenly enters a paradise-like world, in addition to the fragrance of flowers and birds, and the low singing of crickets, the left hand is the study room, and the right hand is the reception room entitled "Master's Residence" .Mr. Huang's son, Hei Man, rushed to Beijing from Hong Kong to prepare for his father's art exhibition. He is easy-going and kind-hearted and opened the door of "Master's Residence" for us with a smile: "Mr. is waiting."Suddenly he felt itchy on his heels, "Short, get out, why did you come in?" It turned out that a Shar Pei-like guy had been following behind.Heiman said that Mr. Huang loves dogs very much, and every family has dogs, and there are ten or twenty dogs at a time.
The room is extraordinarily tall. An arched transparent skylight divides the 200-square-meter room into two areas, the reception area and the bedroom area, through which faint mist seeps in.The furnishings in the house are dizzying, including a cabinet of ancient pottery from the Warring States Period, carved partitions, a super-large golden nanmu bed, a self-painted lotus painting nearly ten meters long, Italian court bronze chandeliers, low Song Dynasty-style tables and chairs... …
As he was looking at it, Mr. Huang walked over quickly with a pipe in one hand. His loud voice and strong handshake made you not have to worry about the health of this 80-year-old man.We laughed and said that the Wanhetang, which has six acres of land, is more generous than the previous landlords. The old man happily said, "This is actually a kennel. I originally had a house in Sanlihe, so I built this house in Beijing." , It was all for my dogs. I had two dogs at the time, and because they were of foreign origin, they both grew to more than 300 pounds. There was really no place to raise them, so I asked a friend to buy a piece of land in the suburbs of Beijing to build a few houses. Unexpectedly, the building got bigger and bigger, and in the end, I couldn’t bear it here, adding another room there, and it became what it is now.” Dialogue
Feeling——
When a friend dies, writing is to remember
Reporter: Your current book is very popular. Some people say that it is the title of the book. What do you think? Huang Yongyu: In fact, this book was published only because I had enough words at hand, and the editor happened to be in an appointment again, so it was published as a collection.I myself have no idea what books sell well and what people are reading.Old friends are leaving more and more, and I write mostly because I want to miss them.As for the title of the book, I came up with it, and later I wanted to change it to "Let's Grow Old Together", but the publisher said the original one was good, so I kept it.
Self-feeling——
I myself am an ant, not even a bee
Reporter: In the book you wrote about Qian Zhongshu and Zhang Leping who were 14 years older than you. They have an extraordinary status in the history of Chinese culture. Compared with them, how do you evaluate yourself?
Huang Yongyu: I feel like an ant, not even a bee. Bees can make honey, and I am drawing and writing like a worker ant all day long.I think people should work diligently with their own conscience as the moral bottom line.In terms of contribution, everyone is actually doing it. My painting is no different from farmers farming the land and workers doing work.Doing what you like is happiness in itself, besides drawing and making money, how can it be called a contribution?
Reporter: Mr. Yang Jiang published a new book, have you seen Yang Jiang again after so many years?
Huang Yongyu: I haven't seen it for many years.I used to live in the same courtyard with Qian Zhongshu’s family, and I only went to his house once, because time is too precious to them, and the family of four all wear glasses to study there, and it is the most taboo to be disturbed .Whenever my hometown brought some fresh bamboo shoots, tea leaves or watercress, I would bring them some, write a note, and put it at the door of his house, then knocked on the door and I left.If I come to the door now and say "Mr. Yang Jiang, I'm here to see you", what's the use?People have less and less time.
Hometown and I——
Beautiful scenery, resorting to literature to create writers
Life is bitter, put it into war and become a general
Reporter: There are so many celebrities in Xiangxi, including you and your cousin Shen Congwen, what do you think of Xiangxi culture?
Huang Yongyu: In fact, Xiangxi culture is not as mysterious and rich as people imagined. There are two points that may affect the local people. The first is the beautiful scenery, and the second is poverty. Appealing to words has produced writers, such as Shen Congwen; the latter made people run for their lives to find a new way out, and joined the army to fight and became a general, such as Shen Congwen's grandfather, he was a general who led the army to fight.
Reporter: What are you doing now?
Huang Yongyu: My hometown winery wrote an article to promote wine. cultural stuff.
Discussion on painting price——
If no one buys it, I will leave it alone
Reporter: It is said that the two bottles you designed for Xiangquan Liquor and Jiugui Liquor at that time paid you 18 million for the transfer fee. What do you think of this transfer of intellectual property rights?How are your paintings priced?
Huang Yongyu: Not only the cost of wine bottle design, but mainly because I did a lot of publicity and planning for them. Send them the money I spent on designing monkey tickets back then.Later, the winery became more profitable, and they took the initiative to ask to pay me, which has nothing to do with intellectual property rights.
Of course my paintings are sold for money, otherwise where did the things you see today come from?I have no other income.As for the pricing, I set as much as I want. I don’t care if there is a market or not. If no one buys it, I will leave it alone.
Reporter: You are 80 years old, do you plan to close your pen?
Huang Yongyu: I live a completely freestyle life now, like swimming sometimes butterfly, sometimes breaststroke, sometimes backstroke.I spend most of my time painting. Between now and the end of next year, there are four art exhibitions to be held in Beijing, Changsha, Guangzhou, and Hong Kong. After that, I will stop painting and concentrate on writing.Because I know that I don’t have much time, and maybe one day I will suddenly die on the table or fall to the ground. It’s a pity that I didn’t finish the article.
The future——
Looking at the world with compassion like God
Reporter: You have described many people and events during the "Cultural Revolution".
Huang Yongyu: Today we should look at those days from a higher perspective. It is not even necessary to record them in words. We should look at them with compassion like God looks at the world. What suffering is not suffering? Not only this section is bumpy.People can't get stuck in it, so what's the point of cursing?
Yellow eyes look at people——
I appreciate Su Xuelin and Zhang Daqian the most
Always thought Eileen Chang was a pornographic novelist
Reporter: Which overseas Chinese writer do you admire more?
Huang Yongyu: Among the writers, I admire Su Xuelin more, but unfortunately her books are not selling well. She once wrote to me asking why her books were not selling well, and asked me to help her. How can I help?She lived to be 101 and died.
Among the painters, I think Zhang Daqian is great.
Reporter: You also lived in Shanghai in the 1930s and 1940s. What do you think of Eileen Chang?
Huang Yongyu: I know she is very famous, but I haven't read her books. Influenced by "Left" thoughts at that time, I always thought she was a pornographic novelist.Haha...it doesn't seem to be the case. The interview ended within an hour and a half as expected, and Mr. Huang was still unsatisfied, "Come on, let me take you to visit my home."
Push open another carved door and enter the study room. Six thick golden nanmu stands in front of the door, and two peacock blue characters "Six Roots" (meaning tranquility) are impressively in front of you.It can be seen that the old man is very proud of this study, which is more than enough to accommodate a hundred people. "Look, I'm painting directly on this wall now. Once I was climbing a ladder and fell down while painting, and the paint in my hand didn't spill out at all. Haha..."
Pushing open another thick door, the lotus pond with a size of more than one mu makes people unable to believe their eyes. Although it is early autumn, there are no lotus flowers reflecting the sun, but the green lotus leaves cover the lotus pods that are either drooping or high , such as a light autumn lotus picture.The four big bear-like dogs naturally lay on their master again, purring and having fun, Huang Lao's clothes were already covered with soil marks, but he just smiled and said angrily like caressing a child: "Okay, okay." "I'll give you some lotus pods." The old man bent down to pick up a few lotus pods from the shore and put them in everyone's hands. He was so hard that he nearly fell down once.
I finally had to say goodbye, and I was a bit reluctant to say goodbye in just two hours.The sky that had been cloudy gradually brightened up, and we waved goodbye. The old man was looking up at each other, thinking sadly in his heart: I hope we can see each other again. (Li Bing)Background
Huang Yongyu, born in Fenghuang County, Hunan Province in 1924, is a native of Tujia nationality and has received primary and incomplete junior high school education.At the age of sixteen, he began to make a living by painting and woodcutting.He used to be a small worker in a porcelain factory, a primary school teacher, a middle school teacher, a family education librarian, a trainee artist member of a theater troupe, a newspaper editor, a film scriptwriter, a professor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, and a vice chairman of the China Artists Association.
Self-taught art and literature, he is a generation of "ghosts", the monkey ticket and Jiugui wine packaging he designed are well-known.He is erudite and knowledgeable, excellent in poetry, calligraphy and painting. He is also a master of poetry, essays, prose, novels, and plays. My wife, don't cry", "These detritus of melancholy", "Along the Seine to Emerald", "Landscape in the Sun", "The Loafer of the River of No Sorrow" and other books.He has painted "Ashima", the zodiac stamp "Monkey" and the landscape painting of Chairman Mao Memorial Hall.It enjoys a high reputation at home and abroad.