Read 0602

Author: Zhang Licheng, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-05-01
Features: The Songs of the Enlightenment Era looks back to that era of masterful figures. When Shen Congwen was still known as Shen Yuehuan, when Hu Shi was Hu Hongqi, when Bing Xin was still Xie Wanying, when Ling Shuhua was Ling Ruitang, when Ding Ling was Jiang Bingzhi, when Wu Mi was Wu Tuoman, when Zou Taofeng was Zou Enrun, when Cao Yu was Wan Jiabao, when Mao Dun was Shen Dehong, when Sha Ting was Yang Chaoxi, when Guo Moruo was Guo Kaihan, they learned songs, sang songs, and received education in their childhood. The author of this article, Li Taishan, was born in 1974 and looks like someone from 1964. Last week, a few people had a farewell dinner, and then he went to the front line to shoot the same-named television documentary. I got to know him through this article. The person who recommended it said that if it were made into a television program and broadcast, it was bound to be a "double zero" show—zero o'clock broadcast, zero viewership.
The Origin of the Palace Museum Renovation Plan Last year, when Duckbills 0600 came out, I gave Wang Jun, who contributed the article The Itch of the Grand Street, a sample copy. At the dinner table, he said that the Beijing Municipal Archives had recently declassified some files, and he had been diving into the archives, exploring the case of the planned renovation of the Palace Museum back then. I was thrilled and said, "You must write an article for Duckbills." The past resurfaced—originally, the Palace Museum was almost destroyed. History almost brushed past a disaster.
Small Talk About the Westward Journey During the editing process of this issue, my criteria for accepting book reviews gradually became clear: avoid making hasty judgments, and preferably delve into details and uncover behind-the-scenes stories. Following this spirit, I ruthlessly rejected several manuscripts and only kept this one by Professor Liu Bo from Nanjing. The most valuable part of this article is the illustrations. During the layout process, I had a sudden idea and decided to include Liu Jiyong's The Battle of Heaven Palace as an illustration in this book. After much effort, I finally obtained authorization from the People's Fine Arts Publishing House and Liu Jiyong's family, and secured the artwork. The Battle of Heaven Palace was created in the mid-1950s and consists of eight panels. It was published by the People's Fine Arts Publishing House in 1956 as a New Year print series, representing Liu Jiyong's masterpieces of meticulous ink and heavy colors. In Duckbills 0602, these eight works are presented in their original color, and for this reason, I specifically asked the printing factory to adjust the fluffiness of the paper from 1.5 to 1.3 during production, enhancing its smoothness to improve the printing effect. Let me show you a sneak peek of this masterpiece from half a century ago.
Love in Seventeen Years Seventeen years refers to the period from 1949 to 1966 in domestic Chinese films. In those films, love was a rare commodity, and even in fleeting glimpses, there was an indescribable allure. In contrast, love has gradually disappeared from our films in the last two or three decades. When Xiao Shao shared her perspective with me, I immediately seized the opportunity. Over the next two months, she watched each film and extracted frames to complete this illustrated article.
Africa, My Africa A few years ago, I discussed with colleagues from Taiwan's Dàkuài Culture and agreed that travel literature would gradually rise. They had already published several books, and upon reviewing them, I realized how difficult it was to write such articles. Listing anecdotes and praising natural beauty, while calling for pure hearts and unity with nature, most articles fell into clichés. Later, I read Mr. Liu Huai's Africa series and felt that he captured the essence and charm of humanity. I asked him to compile and publish it.
Reminiscences of the Year of the Dog Director Chen Xiaoqing is a man with great ambitions. Yet, he focuses on small details, aiming to sort out personal histories and preserve scenes of daily life for the past century. A Side View of an Era covers the fifteen years before 1945, and "Reminiscence of a Certain Year" has already been released for three years. If his plan comes to fruition and continues for twelve years, it will be a Millennium Clear River Map of nearly six decades. Reminiscences of the Year of the Dog was broadcast on CCTV during this year's Spring Festival. Before the broadcast, he often mentioned it to me, and I was deeply moved. This issue of Duckbills includes the script of Reminiscences of the Year of the Dog and a piece about his creative process.
A few more words. Mr. Chen Danqing's article is included in this book due to its documentary significance. It was published six months ago and was rejected and edited multiple times. The "Characters" section introduces the outstanding journalist Zhang Jiluan, where the meaning is profound and all is implied. In Duckbills 0600, there was an article by Gao Lu about Taiwan's modern folk music movement, and this time she has tackled Taiwan's campus songs. The Joys and Sorrows of Several Girls is the first part, and the second part, The Boundless Passion of Several Boys, will be published in Duckbills 0603.
Enjoying Excellent but Bad Hollywood Films Enjoying Excellent but Bad Hollywood Films is a book by John Wilson, the founder of the "Razzie Awards," written last year. I had originally wanted to introduce it, but failed. I asked Professor Zhao Qiang to do a summary translation. Professor Zhao has gone beyond simple translation and supplemented it with a wealth of fresh content. Opening this issue of Duckbills, you'll find not only the original columns like "Characters," "Music Scene," and "Film World" but also a new column called "Special Features." "Some articles don't even know how to categorize themselves, so I just put them in the 'Special Features' section."
Talking about special features, he again mentioned The Songs of the Enlightenment Era. Earlier, Lao Liu had expressed this article in words: The Songs of the Enlightenment Era looks back to that era of masterful figures. When Shen Congwen was still known as Shen Yuehuan, when Bing Xin was still Xie Wanying, when Ding Ling was still Jiang Bingzhi, when Cao Yu was still Wan Jiabao, they learned songs, sang songs, and received education in their childhood. "The person who recommended this article said that if it were made into a television program and broadcast, it was bound to be a 'double zero' show—zero o'clock broadcast, zero viewership." Lao Liu joked. "In fact, Duckbills itself is a niche publication, and 'niche' doesn't refer to the number of readers, but to readers with certain commonalities," he explained. "Discovering and attracting such readers is difficult but full of surprises."