On the morning of January 18, the symposium on the publication of the new book of Chunming Comics was held at Beijing Yanshan Publishing House. The brightest star on the spot is of course the author of this book, Mr. Li Binsheng, a 97-year-old comic book giant. He showed full "post-90s" vitality, spirit, clear thinking, witty words, and his humor infected everyone present.
This gentle old man loves painting, drama and Beijing folklore all his life, and the book "Chunming Comics" includes a hundred old Beijing folk paintings he drew, showing the life style of old Beijing in the 20th century from many aspects such as food, clothing, housing and transportation. The forum also invited Wang Ji, professor of the Department of Philosophy of Chinese Min University and former president of the Chinese Min University Press; Zhao Heng, a cultural scholar and former editor-in-chief of Beijing Yanshan Publishing House; Zhao Lianxian, researcher of the Institute of History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; Ren Mengqiang, former editor-in-chief of the Wirebound Bookstore; Chen Tao, president of the Beijing Times Chinese Publishing House; and Jing Mei, senior editor of the editor-in-chief of the Beijing Radio and Television Station, researcher of late Qing history, and writer Jing Mei.
Mr. Li Binsheng, a comic book giant, was one of the first art journalists after the establishment of Beijing Daily, and was the winner of the "Golden Monkey Award", the highest award for Chinese comics, and the pioneer of "internal satirical comics". In addition to his status as a cartoonist, he also has many titles such as folklore expert, magic master, opera educator, etc., and is known as "the last talent of the 20th century". It is worth mentioning that Mr. Li Binsheng has lived in Beijing for a long time, is familiar with the history and culture of Beijing, and is familiar with the folk customs of Beijing. He began to create comics in the 1950s, wrote "Jujing Trivia" for Beijing Evening News, opened "Yanjing Painting Old" for People's Daily (Special Issue), illustrated books such as "Life in Old Beijing", "My Story", "Jianghu Series" and other books, and published "Li Binsheng Painting Collection", "My Comic Career", "Humble Pen Mercy", "Yanjing Painting Old" and so on.
The book "Chunming Comics" is the result of Mr. Li Binsheng's comics and folklore "two techniques overlapping". He used a paintbrush to record the folk customs and life of old Beijing that he "personally experienced, seen with his own eyes, and heard with his own ears". As the capital, Beijing's folk culture has both historical and practical values. With the development of the times, Beijing folk culture has received more and more attention from people, and more and more people have begun to study and develop Beijing folk culture. At the same time, people also found that with the change of the times, the folk customs of the 20th century are gradually fading in people's memories, and many customs of the old Beijing have either disappeared or been deformed in the inheritance. Li Binsheng's paintings introduce felt hat heads, smeared monkeys, hair nests, camel saddles, leg straps, silver shields, pu bags, warm water bottles, month cards, cold and summer watches, enamel washbasins, self-chiming bells, fire glass, etc., which now sound strange but are extremely common in ordinary people's homes in the past, depicting a series of stylistic evolutions of qipao, horse coats, long shirts, and suits experienced in the 20th century, recording how foreign languages such as "playing", "pounds" and "yards" gradually integrated into people's daily lives with imported items such as wax, woolen thread, and suits. Reminiscent of the perms, airplane heads, and more that once arose in the 20th century. The hundred folk paintings he painted are vivid memories of life in old Beijing in the 20th century, a true record of the gradually diminishing or disappearing folk culture of Beijing, and a precious original material.
In order to allow readers to appreciate the original work of "Chunming Comics" at close range, Beijing Yanshan Publishing House will hold a month-long "Chunming Comics - Li Binsheng Beijing Folk Painting Exhibition" in Chunmingyuan of the Capital Library from now on. Entering this space, a series of quiet and folk paintings come to the face, which suddenly makes the viewer dream back to the past of life in old Beijing. In addition to the original paintings of Mr. Li Binsheng, the exhibition also has interesting talks about Beijing folklore dictated by Mr. Lao. The audience can listen to the old man's voice introduction while watching the original painting, and feel the life in the old Beijing immersively. At the same time, Chun Ming Will launch fifty volumes of "Chun Ming Comics", which is printed on high-quality handmade rice paper, and strives to maximize the original appearance of the paintings, exquisite production, and collection value. And the book is equipped with a hand-printed book ticket, which was personally designed and engraved by Mr. Li Binsheng, 97 years old.