May the fragrance of locust flowers fill the air

Author: Zou Jingzhi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-05-01
Features: Dramatic ups and downs unfold the legends of heroes and villains, great joys and sorrows depict the sweet and sour, bitter and spicy flavors of life! In the film and television industry, known as "China's screenwriter, poet Zou Jingzhi's long novel May Peach Blossom Fragrance—set against the backdrop of the Republic of China, it tells the life-long loves and feuds of three men and two women on the ancient antique street of Liulichang in Beijing. It showcases the various people and stories in the old Beijing antique industry, while also interweaving interesting knowledge about cultural relics. Through the entanglements of people and objects, the novel presents the taste and demeanor of 'people,' emphasizing characters and their destinies. Author Zou Jingzhi states that the book fully embodies a humanistic state of "character is destiny." Whether tragic or down-to-earth, the mindset between people is the most direct thing attached to the antiques. In the mid-1940s, on the Liulichang antique street in Beiping. The shopkeeper Tong Fengquan was framed by his rival Shen Songshan for a Northern Song Dynasty official kiln porcelain. Tong Fengquan took revenge in kind, ultimately leading Shen Songshan to bankruptcy and suicide. Unintentionally seeking revenge, Tong Fengquan himself fell victim to a chain of retributions, his wealth swept away by his accomplice Erkui, leaving him reduced to a street vendor. The fallen Tong Fengquan coincidentally met the destitute Manchu Fan Wuye and his sister, falling in love with his sister Mo He. To improve his dire situation, Fan Wuye repeatedly used Mo He as leverage, forcing Tong Fengquan to restore a broken old painting for profit. Tong Fengquan firmly refused. While selling in the street market, he met the Erniangniang Ru, who had stolen two boxes of cultural relics from the Rui Prince's family and escaped. When Tong Fengquan sold the cultural relics for Ru, he offended Ru's relatives, the Sobas, and was imprisoned. Later, he was redeemed by Ru's niangniang. From then on, Tong Fengquan and Ru Qiulan, Mo He became entangled in a continuous emotional web! To prevent Mo He from marrying someone else, Tong Fengquan reluctantly painted a fake painting for Fan Wuye and orchestrated a sale to the antique dealer Lan Yigui in Liulichang. Subsequently, the matter was exposed, Lan Yigui abandoned his shop and fled, forging a grudge with Tong and Fan. To save Ru Qiulan from being beaten by the Rui family, Tong Fengquan was forced to take the name of an unfaithful husband. Mo He saw this and left, her whereabouts unknown. Lan Yigui sought revenge, and Fan Wuye finally went bankrupt and died heroically! Out of pity, Tong Fengquan married Ru's niangniang, only to be scorned by the petty bourgeoisie! Their married life was turbulent, but eventually, indifference gave way to affection. Just as their lives began to stabilize, Tong Fengquan suffered another misfortune for offending the international cultural relic dealer Lord Lu, his home being burned down. Ru's niangniang vanished without a trace. Mo He, who had joined the revolution after the peaceful liberation of Beiping, returned to Liulichang as the head of a working group. For the case of the Bodhisattva Worshiping Buddha Painting from the Longmen Grottoes, Tong Fengquan, Lan Yigui, and Mo He once again staged a drama of love, hatred, and emotions. In the end, the innocent are vindicated, and the guilty face their consequences. Through the vicissitudes of life, the game of the mortal world, where the heart feels love, and the mind perceives the path.