Huang Yongyu and His Western Hunan

Author: Zhu Ya (Compiler)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-04-01
Features: After reviewing the sample of this book, I felt truly delighted. My own written materials were actually not very good, but thanks to the thoughtful effort of Ms. Zhu Ya and the elevation of her stunning photographic works, they transformed into something even I felt proud of. This reminded me of a saying: A person has an old, broken chair at home that causes trouble, so they take it to an auction house. The auctioneer praises the chair to the skies, and the first person deeply moved is the original owner of the chair. Happily, they buy the chair back. This person is, of course, like me—Huang Yongyu.
Having interacted with Huang Yongyu frequently, I have gained a deeper understanding of his character. Compared to Shen Congwen’s "heart like fire but appearance like still water," Huang possessed an additional touch of the straightforwardness and magnanimity characteristic of people from Western Hunan. As someone who calls himself a "wandering nomad of culture," he took his deep connection to his hometown to an even greater extent, embodying this straightforwardness and magnanimity. In his later years, his nostalgia for home grew stronger, and he returned to it several times a year. When talking about his hometown, his admiration and praise were always overflowing: "Our hometown is truly wonderful! It’s simply wonderful!" "Phoenix is one of the two most beautiful cities in the world."
Based on this belief, when he learned that his hometown was not included in the list of "100 National Historical and Cultural Cities," he tirelessly campaigned to get Phoenix included.
Qunti Temple is an ancient temple in the county seat. Two years ago, during its renovation, Huang Yongyu returned to his hometown despite the harsh cold to sculpt a magnificent Guanyin statue with an elegant and unique design. He also left behind eleven exquisite murals in the temple’s walls. It’s hard to imagine how an octogenarian could complete such a monumental and arduous task in such a short time! It is said that while painting the murals, Huang Yongyu began suffering from diarrhea and continued to persevere even when it became bloody.
As an artist whose achievements have reached extraordinary heights, people often see only his works, but I was fortunate enough to meet the person behind the works. At the age of 12, he left home with a backpack to study elsewhere, becoming a "kite soaring in the sky, with its string tied to the shadow of the hometown that binds the heart." What I did was use my camera to capture this shadow as much as possible and insert it into the thick pages of this book. If this helps people understand more about Huang Yongyu’s true and essential self, then it will have been worth it.