I am | Gao Zongyuan with Rong Baozhai

Rongbaozhai Building

『 Me and Rong Baozhai 』

Text/Gao Zongyuan

I grew up in Beijing, and when I was very young, I knew that there was a Rongbaozhai in Liulichang. In my childhood memories, every spring festival and there was a temple fair outside pingmen, and I would visit this famous cultural shop in Rongbaozhai. Although it was only to see the hilarity at that time, the joy of that time is still fresh in my memory today. Later, I gradually learned that Rongbaozhai is a place where socialites and literati can gather, or to feast on famous works, to meet friends with literature, or to create and exchange skills.

In 1978, I was transferred to the Encyclopedia of China Publishing House, from an ordinary editor to the director of the editorial office, I remember that in 1992, the leader suddenly informed me that the director had something to see me. Before that, I had never been to the Press and Publications Bureau (called the Press and Publications Bureau). I was received by a deputy director (female) of Lu Yuyi, after the meeting, she first said that she transferred me to rongbaozhai to work, I was very happy to hear it, but her next sentence made me feel pressured, she said: "The party group held a meeting and decided to let you go to Rongbaozhai as the general manager." Rong Baozhai is a very famous central enterprise, a representative of Chinese cultural enterprises, and I am only the director of the american editing office of Dapedia, and the responsibilities of these two positions are completely different. Because I was going to visit abroad the next day, the director approved me to return from a business trip and take up my post, and I stayed in Russia for seven days, arriving home in the morning and being sent directly to Rongbaozhai in the afternoon to take up my post.

Rongbaozhai Publishing House

In the past, I came to Rongbaozhai as a customer or a visitor, and from that moment on I became a member of Rongbaozhai. From September 1992 to November 2005, I lived and worked in Rongbaozhai for 13 years. These 13 years have been a very important period for my life, both as an opportunity and a challenge, and the bittersweet and bittersweet of them are still unforgettable.

At that time, Comrade Deng Xiaoping was touring the south, and there were important instructions that China's economy was about to rise, and the cultural industry was in full swing. In order to conform to the tide of reform of the times, Rongbaozhai has carried out industrial integration and made a series of important reform measures. At that time, Rong Baozhai was a cultural enterprise in front of the shop and the factory, there was a sales department in front, operating the four treasures of the literary room, celebrity calligraphy and painting, and there were woodblock watermarks, mounting and other technical support in the back, which was famous in the cultural and artistic circles, and many well-known cultural people intersected with it, including Zheng Zhenduo, Lu Xun, etc. in the early days, including Chen Yi, Gu Mu state leaders, and some cultural masters, such as Qi Baishi, Xu Beihong, Fu Baoshi, and countless... This is an enterprise with a deep cultural accumulation.

When I first took office, RongBaozhai's business was still relatively single, with the awareness of reform and opening up, and there were also reform and opening up actions, such as setting up branches in Japan, Hong Kong and other places, and there was also an auction industry in Hong Kong, but the range was not too large. Objectively speaking, at that time, there was no clear and clear development idea, and many of the work done had the meaning of "improvisation". This "improvisation" is not a short-term, temporary meaning, but how to echo and follow up the development of society in a timely manner in the social changes of reform and opening up. In the tide of reform and opening up, we think, absorb, explore, act, accumulate, around this cultural enterprise, how to make it stronger and bigger, step by step to develop into today's situation. Objectively speaking, Rongbaozhai has seized the great opportunity of the reform and opening up of the whole society; from a microscopic point of view, Rongbaozhai has opened up the forward thinking of reform and development in the industry.

Beijing Rongbao Auction

Looking back on the development process since the 1990s, Rongbaozhai has developed from a single store-operated enterprise to today, in addition to continuing to operate traditional galleries, woodblock watermarks, and mounting, and has successively developed Rongbaozhai Publishing House (1993), Rongbao Auction (1995), Rongbaozhai Painting Institute (2004), Rongxing Art Gallery (1993), "Rongbaozhai" periodicals (1998), education and training, and many other cultural industries. With our own efforts, we Rongbaozhai people have consolidated and enhanced the status and image of Rongbaozhai as a representative of Chinese cultural enterprises. Mr. Huang Yongyu said that Rongbaozhai has its characteristics - this feature is that Rongbaozhai is equivalent to a barometer of culture, and the development direction advocated by the state can be reflected in the operation of Rongbaozhai and its concept has always been closely related to the major guidelines and policies of our time.

In the 13 years of RongBaozhai, I only did some rammed foundation projects, and these successors were even more indispensable. When I retired, the RongBaozhai Building was still under construction, and now, the Disgraceful Baozhai Building has been completed, and many projects have been applied for in the application for heritage, and various business sectors have continued to grow bigger and stronger. RongBaozhai people have followed the successors and are full of energy, and Rongbaozhai will definitely have great progress. The connotation of the Rongbaozhai brand has been continuously expanded and enriched under the changes of the years and the efforts of generations of Rongbaozhai people.

Rongbaozhai Painting Academy

Over the years, someone has always asked me a question, why do painters have such deep feelings for Rong Baozhai? I've thought about this question over and over again, and I think it's thanks to several aspects:

First of all, the concept of Rong BaoZhai is "to meet friends with literature, and to honor the name of bao". Since the Republic of China restored the name of Rong Baozhai, Mr. Wang Renshan has a lofty positioning for Rong Baozhai and strict regulations. Successive leaders have agreed with this, and the work ideas are constantly around the Rongbaozhai culture, up and down, so they can stand out in the liulichang gallery and become the landmark of the east and west liulichang.

Secondly, it is also related to the overall quality of employees. Rongbaozhai has always had high requirements for the quality of employees, such as everyone likes art, is familiar with their own business, and carries out skills and characteristics of services. We have established the trust of painters in Rongbaozhai and the trust of customers in Rongbaozhai, which really pins on the deep feelings of calligraphers and painters and customers. This attitude continues to this day. After liberation, from the first leader, Mr. Hou Kai, to the subsequent leaders, these fine traditions have been maintained. Third, Rong Baozhai never makes or sells counterfeits, never gives kickbacks, and insists on being consistent for many years. We respect the painter, the painter reassures us; we are responsible for the customer, and the customer trusts us.

Rongxing Art Gallery

Rongbaozhai is unique in the industry. After liberation, not too many old brands of cultural enterprises can be retained, and it is precisely because there are not many that the party and the state have also carefully supported Rong Baozhai and implemented it through the leadership of various sessions. Now, many traditional old brands are gone, but RongBaozhai is still evergreen and full of vitality, which shows the demand for traditional culture in the process of social development, and the traditional culture with nutrients will be inherited and developed in different ways. In this long-term sense, Rongbaozhai as the iconic carrier of calligraphy and painting art in traditional culture, has gone for three hundred and fifty years, Rongbaozhai is no longer a shop, it is a holy place in the traditional Chinese art world, a complex.

This year is the 350th anniversary of Rongbaozhai, more than three hundred years of vicissitudes and great changes, Rongbaozhai to carry forward the excellent traditional culture of the Chinese nation for the purpose, "Rongbaozhai" the golden signboard has always flashed the glory of moisturizing, becoming an important brand of national cultural enterprises. After several generations of hard work, Rongbaozhai has become a front for the prosperity and development of traditional Chinese culture, an important window to the world, and a bridge between the people and art.

Rongbaozhai Journal

I have a square seal "RongbaoZhairen", and many of my paintings use this "idle chapter", and I am proud to be a Rongbaozhai person. In my opinion, Rong Baozhai will definitely be long-lasting. Although I am more than 80 years old, my mentality remains young, and I also hope that Rongbaozhai has been thriving, where I can not only see the achievements and courage of cultural enterprises, but also feel the prosperity and development of the cultural industry. In Shan Jixiang's words, he has been a gatekeeper of the Forbidden City, then I have been a janitor of Rongbaozhai, and I am very happy and proud.

I wish Rongbaozhai people always smooth, I wish Rongbaozhai people will always be able to add bricks and tiles to Chinese culture, and I hope that Rongbaozhai will get better and better!

『 Artist Profile 』

□□□□

Gao Zongyuan was born in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, and his ancestral home was Changli, Hebei. He was a member of the 5th, 6th and presidium of the China Artists Association. He is currently the vice president of the China Editing Society, the director of the Art Editing Committee of the China Editing Society, the consultant of Rong Baozhai, the deputy director of the Comic Strip Art Committee of the China Artists Association, the member of the Art Committee of the Central Academy of Painting of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang, and the member of the Art Committee of the Central Museum of Culture and History. He graduated from Beijing Institute of Education in his early years, majoring in fine arts. In 1978, he entered the publishing industry and successively served as the director of the fine arts department of the Encyclopedia of China Publishing House, the general manager of Rong Baozhai, the president of the People's Fine Arts Publishing House, and the president of the China Fine Arts Publishing House. In 1991, he was rated as an editor of fine arts, and in 1992, he began to enjoy the "special government allowance" of the State Council. He presided over the editing of important art publications such as "Fifty Years of New Chinese Art", "Fifty Years of New China Publication", "Encyclopedia of Chinese Art" and so on. He planned the first and second exhibitions of fine art works in the chinese art publishing industry.

His works have participated in important exhibitions such as the Centennial Chinese Painting Exhibition, and have held many solo exhibitions at home and abroad. His works "Waterfall" and "Boating in the Gorge River" are collected by the National Art Museum of China. His personal painting collections include "Gao Zongyuan's Works" and "Gao Zongyuan's Painting Collection".

『 Appreciation of works 』

□□□□

Landscape Series 26.0cmx39.0cm

"Qifeng" 39.0cmx88.0cm

"So Many Petite Rivers" 34.0cmx68.0cm

Infinite Scenery 69.0cmx36.0cm

"Leisurely" 35.0cm x 70.0cm

"Icing on the Cake" 35.0cm x 70.0cm

35.0cm x 70.0cm