Whether it is in the Spring Festival or other traditional festivals of the Chinese nation, whether you are in the mainland or Taiwan, there are some cultural symbols deeply rooted in the hearts of the grassroots people, which are pinned on their most simple and sincere vision of life.
Even in an era when social software has become more widespread at all ages, and greeting each other is becoming more and more convenient, people will not ignore the "sense of ceremony". For example, when you wake up in the morning, you may receive a picture of Emperor Guan, which reads "Read good books, say good words, do good deeds, and be a good person" to help you start a new day with great energy. And in the middle of the night, you may also receive a "Wind Lion Grandpa say goodnight to you", and the Wind Lion Grandpa on the picture has a hint of "cuteness" in the wind, presumably all nightmares will be driven away by it.
The pictures are from You Mingyuan and Wang Mingzong
What I am talking about is the real story that happened during this year's Spring Festival, and behind this story is the precious friendship between two artists who are obsessed with their respective life careers.
"Emperor Guan" joined hands with "Wind Lion Grandpa" to bless both sides of the strait
In June 2019, the second Creative Graffiti Tour of the Straits Forum opened its creation on the wall in the dock community of Tongling Town, Dongshan, Fujian Province. Wang Mingzong, an artist from Kinmen, led his team to complete the work "Wei zhen dongshan" with the theme of "Guandi culture", and won the first prize of the competition. Wang Mingzong is also a well-known pottery master in Kinmen, an artist with the reputation of "the father of the wind lion", and he is also handy in painting Emperor Guan of Dongshan. In Wang Mingzong's view, Emperor Guan and Master Fengshi are both "guardian gods" of the people, and the spirit of loyalty, courage, benevolence, righteousness, and faith of Emperor Guan inspires both sides of the strait, and The Wind Lion also pins on the good wishes of the Chinese people to ward off evil spirits, avoid disasters, and pray for blessings.
Wang Mingzong (second from the left) poses with the work "Wei Zhen Dong shan"
During the period of participation in the competition, Wang Mingzong and the players on both sides of the strait ate and lived together. In order to make the works better integrate with the local cultural style of Dongshan, Wang Mingzong went deep into the community to interact with local residents. It was at that time that You Mingyuan, director of the Dongshan County Library and president of the Dongshan Academy of Calligraphy and Painting, became his guide and "consultant", and the two exchanged ideas with each other and discussed art.
Wang Mingzong competed in Dongshan
"It was a short time, but I really felt happy." This year's Spring Festival, when Wang Mingzong told You Mingyuan through a video to "cloud to pay homage to the New Year", he recalled this past event and his heart was full of nostalgia. He told us that he was very grateful for this opportunity to send greetings and blessings to his friends. Therefore, Wang Mingzong also specially held out two newly created pottery statues of Fengshi Ye and told You Mingyuan that he hoped that when the "mini three links" between the two sides of the strait resumed, his friends could visit his Kinmen Huanzhou Pottery Workshop.
Perhaps because of his perennial participation in cross-strait exchange activities, Wang Mingzong once said with a sense of feeling that "one family on both sides of the strait" is not a slogan on the lips, but should be practiced in actual exchanges and interactions. After listening to the two artists' stories in "Cloud Worship Year", we learned that the two knew each other and intersected much earlier than we thought.
The "literary and artistic flower" bears the "fruit of exchange" and prospers the family
Just as the Wind Lion Ye is to the Golden Gate, Guan Di Ye is also the "cultural business card" of Dongshan County. Dongshan was once an important town in the Southern Fujian Sea, and Emperor Guan was the spiritual force for Zheng Chenggong's army to recover Taiwan. Guandi faith was also introduced to Taiwan from Dongshan, and Dongshan Guandi Temple is the ancestral temple of Taiwan's Guandi Temple.
You Mingyuan (top left) attends the video seminar on "Guan Gong Culture and Chinese Civilization"
As a native of Dongshan, You Mingyuan has been committed to promoting and inheriting the Guandi culture of Dongshan, and he has almost always been present in the large and small Guandi cultural activities on both sides of the strait over the years. Shortly before the Spring Festival, You Mingyuan also participated in the 2022 cross-strait "Guangong Culture and Chinese Civilization" long-distance video seminar, together with other keynote speakers, on the cultural history, development status and trend vision of Guandi. You Mingyuan is also a powerful artist, writer and photographer, in June 2010, also because of the "Cross-Strait Guandi Cultural Tourism Festival", You Mingyuan held a personal exhibition "Confucian Complementary Artistic Wisdom - You Mingyuan Painting Exhibition" at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei. Because he was passing through Kinmen on his way to Taiwan, You Mingyuan came to Wang Mingzong's studio for the first time under the recommendation of local friends, and was deeply impressed by the wind lion created by Kinmen artists.
You Mingyuan held a solo exhibition in Taipei
When the Year of the Tiger arrived, You Mingyuan was so happy that he thanked wang Mingzong for the New Year after receiving the video of his new year.' Despite the many affairs during the festival, You Mingyuan also took the time to record a video for his friend. He, who usually does not use social platforms, also specially explained to us that we must forward this video to Wang Mingzong.
You and Wang take a group photo in Dongshan
"There is tradition, innovation, and spirituality!" You Mingyuan not only praised the "mighty wind" made by Wang Mingzong, but also hoped that these "wind lion masters" could suppress evil and drive away the new crown. Because only when the epidemic has passed and the people on both sides of the strait are safe and happy, can their good friends get together.
In fact, despite the inconvenience of cross-strait personnel exchanges due to the epidemic, this cross-strait interaction with art as the medium and culture as the purpose has never been interrupted.
In this cross-strait video "Yun Bai Nian," we also learned from Lian Mingfu, chairman of the Lianheng Cultural Research Institute in Fujian Province, that although he and Chen Mingjing, chairman of Taiwan's "Chinese Calligraphers Society," have not met for more than two years, they have interacted more closely with each other. In particular, the series of activities jointly held by the two sides to commemorate the centenary of the publication of the "General History of Taiwan" - the "Lianheng Cup" Chinese Poetry Contest and the Youth Calligraphy Competition were also successfully held during the epidemic.
In addition, there is the Creative Graffiti Contest of the Straits Forum, the "Artists on Both Sides of the Straits Paint Taishan" Calligraphy and Painting Exhibition... Together, it seems that whether it is video conferencing, air-to-air interaction, or sending works to each other and responding from different places, people in the literary and art circles on both sides of the strait are in various ways to promote non-governmental interaction under special circumstances, and also firmly maintain the cultural heritage of the two sides of the strait.
Tigers roar and prosper economics and trade, and dragons rise up in art and culture. I believe that in the new year, such interactions will only be more, only better.
(Straits Herald reporter Lin Jingxian)