Bi Degui, long known for his name, poetry, calligraphy and painting are all workers, You Shan shu, fine seal carving, a seal engraver with outstanding achievements.
On national day in 2020, friends introduced, and finally met. Virtue and kindness are simple and simple, the temperament is elegant, and the spring breeze is blowing on the face, and the gods have been friends for a long time.
Speaking of the age zodiac, I belong to the monkey and he belongs to the chicken, I am half a month older, and Degui honors me as a brother. I called the teacher, and he said that we are the same age, and the brothers are the most affectionate.
Mr. Bi Degui and his mentor Mr. Ye Yuzhong
Degui has been teaching for half his life and has been deeply cultivating the field of books for more than fifty years. His beijing Yuezhang's home is not far from the military museum of Li Duo, vice chairman of the China Book Association and "a pen in the army", and he was fortunate to listen to Li Duo's calligraphy and get Mr. Li Duo's guidance. He was successively accepted as a disciple by the famous seal engraver Li Gangtian (Note 1) and the famous painter and vice president of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Professor Ye Yuzhong (Note 2), and was earnestly tempted and benefited for life. In recent years, the style of books has changed, and the art of books has made great progress. The seal carving atmosphere, high and simple ancient, cursive writing vigorous, ancient style is magnificent.
Mr. Bi Degui and his mentor Mr. Li Gangtian
During the banquet, we sat next to each other and talked happily. Her lover is my sister Tian Lan, a famous talented woman. My lover's ancestral home is separated from Degui's house by a wall, and they all live in Beitan, Xiye Street. Qingdao's residence, the two families also live together in Qindao, one with water. Fellow villagers, classmates, and neighbors have pulled into the distance; they have similar interests, and they have a sense of seeing each other and hating each other.
When we first met, Degui gave me a banner: "Watching fish knows sex, raising cranes and enlightening Zen hearts." Like a fish in the water, like a crane soaring, freedom of thought, all in the heart. Degui sent a message of Zen, and I understood it with my own heart.
After half a month, the "Luzhong Morning Post" of the mass newspaper published a long article by Degui on a full page every day for three consecutive days: "In those years, I was in Sloan Bookstore." In mid-September, Mr. Li Duo passed away. Degui was full of affection and wrote a reminiscence article. Previously, I only knew that the Degui seal was engraved with a reputation full of Qilu, and I did not expect that the literary style was so wonderful. I feel particularly cordial about reading Degui's article because of the story of my encounter with Mr. Li Duo.
Degui and Mr. Li Duo met in the Spring Festival of 1989. Two years forward, it was 1987. That year, just after the Spring Festival, Li Duo's disciple gao Junfa, a military calligrapher from Zibo, had to accompany Li Duo and several other calligraphers in Beijing to Qingdao, Shandong, Yantai and other places for cultural exchanges. I am very happy to hear this news, if I can take the opportunity to invite Li Duo and his party to come to our Zhang Gang for calligraphy guidance, it is a great thing to promote the construction of corporate culture and prosper the cultural life of employees. With the consent of the leaders, I and Guo Fengzi, director of the cadre department, took the car into Beijing overnight and went straight to the PLA Armored Corps Academy in Fengtai to meet Gao Junfa.
This was my first acquaintance with the military law. Unexpectedly, this meeting actually met a close friend, which contributed to our friendship for more than thirty years. Unexpectedly, this small clerk of the company later became a well-known calligrapher, served as a director of the China Book Association for three consecutive terms, and was promoted to the rank of colonel of the General Staff.
Seeing the military law, zhang gang expressed his eagerness to invite Mr. Li Duo, and agreed on many specific matters together. Originally, Li Duo heard that we had arrived in Beijing and agreed to meet. Unexpectedly, I received an emergency military service and had to postpone the meeting time. Unfortunately, we could not stay in our official duties, so we asked the military court to convey our gratitude to Mr. Li Duo and leave Beijing the next day to return.
That activity did not take place in the end, and Mr. Li Duo deeply regretted that the ink treasure was written and donated to me. The inscription that Li Duo gave me was: "East Wall Books, West Garden Hanmo, South China Autumn Water, North Garden Spring Mountain", and the sixteen characters paint a quiet and leisurely reading picture. Spring mountains and autumn water, books and ink fragrance, this is Mr. Li Duo's expectations of me, but also the realm of life that my heart wants to chase. After this work was framed, I have been hanging high in the study, memorizing it in my heart, not seeking nobility, and living a light life.
Degui's article reminds me of a period of calligraphy and painting with Mr. Li Duo, and I am even more touched by Degui's deep feelings of not forgetting the teacher's kindness and respecting the teacher, so I typed a few lines of text on the mobile phone screen and sent it to Degui:
Brother Bi, I just carefully read the article recalling Teacher Li Duo. Your fate with Teacher Li Duo can be said to be a strange fate. Li Duo came to Zibo for the first time, inquired about your situation at Pu Songling's former residence, and the object of the inquiry happened to be your lover Tian Lan, which was really incredible; Tian Lan's biography, Li Duo's ink treasure title, zhu lian bi, the same headline position of the public daily, at that time, the two did not know each other. The Spring Festival of McDonald's in Beijing and Li Duo's family met unexpectedly, adding another story of serendipity. A strange fate that is unimaginable to the novelist has really appeared in your life. The plot of the article is twisted and vivid, the writing is clean and smooth, the deep meaning is natural and natural, and the reading is like drinking sweet alcohol, like a spring breeze. Good text!
Not long after that, I went to Qingdao again, visited the Degui couple again, and visited Qingdao Mountain, the site of the First World War.
Degui lives in the community under the mountains of Qingdao, with a living hall and three rooms, four walls of calligraphy and painting books; cabinets, are large and small seals, thousands of squares. Strangely, the TV set on the low cabinet actually had the word "Fu" on the screen of Degui's handwritten letter. Only after inquiring did he know that his wife had not watched TELEVISION for many years, and they loved each other, reading and writing, painting and chanting poetry. I thought to myself: This is the cultural person who is indifferent and determined.
Tian Lan and I are also related to each other. On the first day of high school, just after entering the school gate, I saw the publicity board on the side of the road of the large playground, and the students gathered to discuss. Out of curiosity, I squeezed to the front, and it turned out that everyone was reading the Zibo Daily in the window. In the newspaper, an article circled with a red pen is very eye-catching, and the author of the article is also marked with a red line: Zibo Ichiakata Lan, which is the first name I remember when I stepped into the high school campus. A few days later, the school held a teacher-student assembly in the auditorium of the Forty-Acre Municipal Party Committee, and it was a female student who spoke on behalf of the students. The classmate next to me said to me, 20 grades high, called Tian Lan, the composition is very good, the children of 67 army cadres. Oh, this is Tian Lan. Who would have thought that half a century later, we would meet in Qingdao.
Speaking of this experience, Tian Lan laughed. She said that the composition will not be forgotten, and she will not remember the speech on stage. At this time, she picked up my collection of essays from the coffee table and said, These days, I have been reading your "Past Events" word by word, and I am always surprised: the writing is so good, we should have known each other earlier, not to mention that I was in Zibo Daily, and I have been the editor of Liuquan Supplement for several years. Why don't you remember that you submitted an article? I said that when I was young, I was engaged in official documents and official articles, and I only wrote something I wanted to write when I was about to retire. I was lazy by nature and rarely contributed, so we didn't have a chance to meet.
There are many confidants who talk to themselves. Chatting, I asked a very "private" question, how did you come together? They looked at each other and smiled, or the more talkative Tian Lan answered my questions: In 1981, my mentor Liu Xuemin and his wife introduced him to me, and Teacher Liu introduced that Bi Degui loved calligraphy, and I thought that since he loved calligraphy, his words should be written well, my words were not good, and I subconsciously needed a person who wrote well. Later, when we met, his words were really good, what about others? One day, I suddenly attacked his house and saw him busy cooking and a few children waiting to eat, and the children called him Little Master. When the dishes were ready, he put them into bowls one by one for the children, and one steamed bun for each of them. This scene reminds me of kindergarten. It turned out that the children belonged to his two older brothers, and in order to facilitate schooling, they all followed him to eat and live. I was a little surprised, a young man, not old on the top, but a group of small people on the bottom, who were fathers and mothers. I saw his kindness, and of course I saw his poverty. Such poverty, with my origins, is unimaginable without being there. In 1982, we got married next to our parents in Beijing. The cultural environment of Beijing and the atmosphere of calligraphy and painting opened his eyes and lingered.
In 1984, the first day of the Chinese New Year in the year of Koshi, there was heavy snow on goose feathers. The two of us gave our parents a New Year's greeting. His father, who was an instructor at the Logistics College, told Degui that the Beijing Evening News reported that from the first to the third day of the first year of the first year, the Beijing Working People's Cultural Palace held a "National Mass Calligraphy Field Competition" activity. After eating the dumplings we went. I didn't expect the enthusiasm of Beijing people to be so high, and the scene was crowded with people. What is even more surprising is that some well-known calligraphers are judges on the spot and score awards on the spot. I encouraged him to enter and try his hand. He hesitated, observed, took off his coat, and walked toward the book with a red face. As a result, he really won the prize, and the prize was a banner written by Mr. Yang Zaichun on the spot: "Book virtue is the first, valuable spirit." Mr. Yang was tall and burly, and he said: "Being a person and acting with virtue is the first, and virtue is the foundation of our scholars' lives." According to your name, I will give it to you with these eight characters!" He was 28 years old at the time, and Mr. Yang's words inspired him in the long run.
Alas, after living together for so many years, most of his time, effort, energy, and even financial resources, physical strength, etc., were handed over to calligraphy and seal carving. Regardless of the calligraphy, his engraved seal has exceeded 10,000 squares. Square inches of stubborn stone, hard as iron, sharp as a knife, he sawed and sharpened, carved, whistled the knife and forgot, sat for half a day unconscious. This scene is mostly staged in the evening, and our son grew up and was very accustomed to falling asleep to his father's jingles.
Bi Degui's calligraphy works
Bidqui's Book of Poetry
Bi Degui's Meilan Bamboo Chrysanthemum
Bi Degui's seal engraving works
Bi Degui ceramic print works
With words to make a connection, and art as a medium. Tian Lan and Degui have common interests and the same three views, as if they are detached from mortal dust and integrated into the world. Be genuine and fun and live yourself. I sincerely admire.
Degui reminded us in time that we temporarily stopped the topic, walked out of the house, and began to climb the mountain.
Qingdao Mountain is also called Fortress Mountain. If it wasn't for Degui's introduction, I really didn't know that There was such a mountain in Qingdao. There is a military fortress on the hill a hundred years ago, where the Germans and Japanese fought fiercely during World War I.
Today's Qingdao Mountain has been set aside as a park, the mountain is very green, the German army fortress of that year is well preserved, and there is a World War I site museum under the mountain, which is a national key cultural relics protection unit.
To be honest, my interest is not in visiting the mountains, but more about the fun of getting along with Tokuki Tianlan. Degui is a mystery to me. I have been in contact with many calligraphers and painters, but there are not many people who are obsessed with calligraphy, seal engraving, painting, and poetry, just like sports and athletics competitions, most of which are outstanding in single level, and Degui is a multi-all-around. Degui was born into poverty, lost his father eight months after birth, and grew up in poverty. There is no economic support, and no family origin, but he has a unique path, deep ploughing the art field, and has achieved impressive achievements. Those awards, those many titles, I won't list them all. I admire him because he is not only an artist who is proficient in poetry and painting, but also a scholar with personal experience, insight into the world, kindness and interest.
Talking about the past of artistic growth, Degui was grateful to the two teachers, "One is that after Mr. Li Gangtian (Note 1) accepted me as a disciple, he gave guidance and expectations in terms of aesthetics and the brewing of classical atmosphere, and gave me many precious materials, which made me feel admired. One is Professor Ye Yuzhong's guidance to me. Teacher Ye has a very deep knowledge of poetry, books, paintings, and printing, and he taught me more than 20 years ago that poetry, calligraphy, painting and printing are the basic skills that an artist must have. How can one be called a literati without reading? Learning calligraphy only learns one or two kinds of bodies, I don't know how to seal it, how elegant is the work? He stressed that there are poems and books in the belly, and Teacher Ye specially wrote 'Lonely Seeking The Tao, Embracing Simplicity and Truth' to give me. ”
Talking about the impetuous phenomenon in today's calligraphy and seal engraving world, Degui did not think so. He said that I believe in Teacher Ye's "lonely seeking the Tao." Art is lonely, and the pursuit of art must give up utilitarianism and endure loneliness. Over the years, I did not dare to slacken off, and developed the habit of reading posts and reading the history of printing, printing theories, and printing notation, insisting on writing and moving the knife every day, and I could carve more than ten hours a day. The cold stone, after carving, has become a seal with ancient style and clumsiness, and occasionally one or two parties like it, and there will be a kind of carnival impulse. The charm of art lies in this.
In the rambling conversation, I remembered Degui's "Self-Description" poems, one of which I particularly appreciated:
Poetry and books character look at the cultivation,
Baopu contains really expensive and humble.
Throw away the false name and stay still,
The heart is elegant and the bones are particularly strong.
The breeze is gentle, the heart is elegant, and I get along with Degui, and I sometimes feel this way.
Standing at the top of Qingdao Mountain, looking at the sea, listening to the discussion of Virtue and Gui, suddenly feeling the sea and the sky, the mood is particularly comfortable. Befriend the wise and enjoy yourself.
I got along well with Degui and his wife at first sight, and I couldn't imagine that my son's family of three and Degui and his wife were closer than me, and they were as close as family.
During New Year's Day, his son Liu Zhao's family went to Hainan for a vacation. Soon after returning to Qingdao, he visited Degui's house.
Degui was very happy to see Liu Zhao's family, thinking that the Spring Festival was approaching, so he spread out the big red rice paper, dipped in thick ink, and the book was given to Liu Zhao in a couplet. The line book couplet is simple and simple, the force penetrates the back of the paper, and the content is even more amazing.
Shanglian "Baichuan to Haixiu Jiamu", embedded in the name of mother and child, but also contains love and affection. Daughter-in-law's name is Ogawa, and grandson's name is Kamu. The grandson, who is less than four years old, is particularly close to the kind Grandpa Bi. After entering the door for a short time, he grabbed Grandpa's brush and scribbled it on rice paper at will, painting three times in a row. Grandpa Bi was moved by the child's heart, that is, he painted the inscription for Jiamu: "The first piece of Jiamu ink painting." Gengzi Wax moon twelve painted on Grandpa Bi's desk", three pairs of ink, all titled. Jiamu, meaning beautiful big tree. A "show" word, full of Grandpa Bi's love and praise for his grandson.
The lower link "Zhao Yi KaiLai Mirror Platform" is a blessing for the younger generations. Before New Year's Day, Liu Zhao and Xiaochuan made a special trip to visit Degui and his wife, and brought a new tea called "Mingjingtai" for Degui and his wife to taste. This is the first Pu'er tea created by the son and daughter-in-law. Although the two are engaged in financial securities and college education respectively, they both like to taste tea and appreciate tea, and have made small achievements. His son won the first national Pu'er Dou Tea Championship, his daughter-in-law won the seventh place in the first national tea art competition in 2020, and the first place in Shandong Division. Not long ago, they told me that they were going to create a new Pu'er tea. This tea, high-end quality, is not made for making money, only for people who know Pu'er.
This tea takes the name "Mingjingtai", which is derived from the poem of the Six Ancestors Huineng, "Bodhi has no tree, and Mingjing is not a platform." There was nothing in the original, where to stir up dust." Zen tea is a taste, meditation and nourishment; learning Buddhist monasticism, and being positive and kind, this should be the original intention of children to create this niche Pu'er brand.
Degui was impressed by this and drew up this link. "Zhaoyi" means Liu Zhao Xiaochuan. "Open up", inherit the past and open up the future. "Spiegel Platform" refers to both the Pu'er brand and a pun, implying the expectation of their self-cultivation and congratulations on the development of their careers.
Degui's spring union is sincere and sincere, reflecting the ardent expectations of the elders for the younger generations. I was touched by this, that is, I used this as the content to write a small article and publish it on the Internet. After the Degui view, the second praise message:
He was also praised by Brother Shengxiang... Son Liu Zhao has both vision, insight, talent and learning, a rare young talent, and more importantly, a good person: honesty and kindness. Daughter-in-law Ogawa is beautiful and gentle, empathetic and talented, associate professor of colleges and universities, and has a deep cultivation. Love Sun Jiamu, smart and cute, sensible and lively, the little handsome guy is really great. We especially liked this happy family. We met and talked about poetry, about calligraphy and painting, about seal carving, printing stones, about tea and finance, and there were endless topics. We have said many times that we should learn from young people and not let ourselves fall behind too quickly.........
"Juzhu Meilan gentlemanly state, self-cherishing broom music cultivation reading."
This is a sentence from Degui's self-described poem. He has entered the realm of natural freedom, whether it is the world of seal carving poetry and book art, or the world of ordinary fireworks, there are fairy wind Dao bones, such as idle clouds and wild cranes, and there is a way to practice.
April 16, 2022 Diary at The Moon Hall
Note 1: Li Gangtian is a famous contemporary calligrapher, seal engraver, and calligraphy seal engraver theorist. Vice President of Xiling Printing Society, former deputy director of the Seal Engraving Art Committee of the China Book Association.
Note 2: Ye Yuzhong is a professor, painter, poet, art educator and theorist at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, and a visiting professor at Peking University. He once served as a director of the China Artists Association, the editor-in-chief and president of Fine Arts Magazine, and the vice president of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, and is an important artist who has pushed the aesthetics of contemporary Chinese painting to a new height.