Read-(0602)

Author: Zhang Licheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-05-01
Features: The Singing of the Enlightenment Era looks back to that era of masterful figures. When Shen Congwen was still called 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 Kaizhen, 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 a person from 1964. Last week, a few people had a farewell dinner, and then he went to the 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 and Development of the Palace Reconstruction Plan Last year, when Duke 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 archives, and he had been digging through old documents every day, exploring the case of the planned reconstruction of the Forbidden City back then. I was thrilled and said, "You must write an article for Duke." The past resurfaced—originally, the Forbidden City was almost destroyed. History almost brushed past a disaster. A Brief 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 Teacher 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 Mr. Liu Jiyong's The Battle of Heaven as an illustration in this book. After some back-and-forth, I finally obtained authorization from the People's Fine Arts Publishing House and Mr. Liu's family, and secured the artwork. The Battle of Heaven 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 the pinnacle of Mr. Liu Jiyong's meticulous ink and color works. In Duke 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 for this issue, enhancing its smoothness to hope for better printing quality. 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 Chinese domestic cinema. 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 Xiaohu told me her opinion, I immediately seized on it. Over the next two months, she watched the films one by one and extracted frames to complete this illustrated article. Africa, My Africa A few years ago, I discussed with my colleagues at 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 African series and felt that he captured the essence and charm of the human experience. I asked him to compile them comprehensively and publish them. Memories of the Year of the Dog Director Chen Xiaoqing is a man with great ambitions. Yet, his ambitions lie in small details—he wants to piece together some personal histories and preserve glimpses of daily life over the past century in China. A Side View of an Era covers the fifteen years before 1945, and "A Memory of a Certain Year" has already been released for three years. If his wish is realized and he continues for another twelve years, it would be a Sixty Years of the Clear River Map of China. Memories of the Year of the Dog was broadcast on CCTV this year, and before the broadcast, he often mentioned it to me, stirring me deeply. This issue of Duke includes the script of Memories of the Year of the Dog and a piece of his creative discussion. Let me add a few more words. Mr. Chen Danqing's article is included in this book for its documentary significance. This article came out six months ago and was rejected and edited multiple times. The "Characters" section introduces the outstanding journalist Zhang Jiliu, where the meaning is profound and everything is implied. In Duke 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 Joy and Sorrow of Several Girls is the first part, and the second part, The Boundless Passion of Several Boys, will be published in Duke 0603. Enjoying Excellent but Bad Hollywood Films is a book by John Wilson, the founder of the "Razzie Awards," which I had hoped to introduce but failed to do so. I asked Teacher Zhao Qiang to provide an excerpt. Mr. Zhao has gone beyond simple translation, adding a wealth of fresh insights. Opening this issue of Duke, you will find, in addition to the original columns like "Characters," "Music Scene," and "Film World," a new column called "Special Features." "Some articles don't even know how to classify them, so I just put them in 'Special Features.'" When discussing special features, he again mentioned The Singing of the Enlightenment Era. Earlier, when Lao Liu expressed this article in writing, he said: The Singing of the Enlightenment Era looks back to that era of masterful figures. When Shen Congwen was still called 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, Duke itself is a niche publication, and 'niche' doesn't refer to the number of readers, but to readers with shared characteristics," he explained. "Discovering and attracting such readers is difficult but full of surprises."