Weng Xin
After a year, last year's critically acclaimed movie "Spring River Plumbing" was exclusively launched on iQiyi on August 21. Set against the backdrop of Fuyang, Hangzhou, the film shows the alternating seasons and natural features along the Fuchun River. The whole film is full of the unique charm and poetry of landscape painting, and is a local film in Hangzhou with great regional characteristics.
This ambitious work was shortlisted for the "Critics' Week" section of the Cannes Film Festival last year, and later won two awards at the 13th FIRST Youth Film Festival, Best Feature Film and Best Director.
Spring River Plumbing Stills Data Figure
Young director Gu Xiaogang's hometown is Fuyang, Hangzhou. More than 600 years ago, Huang Gongwang created a long scroll of landscapes here, "Fuchun Mountain Residence Map". More than 600 years later, it also became a source of inspiration for Gu Xiaogang, who spent three years shooting his first feature film "Spring River Plumbing".
Set against the backdrop of an ordinary three-generation family on the banks of the Fuchun River, the film tells the story of the four brothers of the Gu family taking turns to take care of their elderly and stroke mother, involving family affection and interests, and also showing the warmth and coldness of human feelings under the change of the times. The actors are all relatives and friends of the director, and their true colors also provide a real life texture for the film.
The film is discussed more about formal exploration than the story. Gu Xiaogang tried to translate the aesthetic meaning of landscape painting into the language of film. The film designs a lot of long shots, using a sideways way to make the scenery of the Fuchun River slowly unfold like a scroll painting.
The English title of the film, "Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains", follows the official translation of "Fuchun Mountain Jutu", which is a tribute to the director to "Fuchun Mountain Jutu" 600 years ago.
"Spring River Plumbing" movie poster / director Gu Xiaogang Data picture
Fuyang, known as "Fuchun" in ancient times, used to be a county-level city in the southwest of Hangzhou, and in recent years, with the expansion of Hangzhou's urban construction, it has become Hangzhou Fuyang District. Just an hour's drive from Hangzhou to Fuyang, you might as well follow this movie and visit this small city of landscapes along the Fuchun River.
Stork Hill Park
To the east of Fuyang Castle, there is a hill standing next to the river, called Stork Mountain, which is said to be named after the shape of the mountain like a stork bird. There is also a saying that during the Three Kingdoms and Eastern Wu Dynasty, there was a Taoist temple on the top of the mountain, so Stork Mountain was actually called "Guan Shan" in the past.
Stork Mountain is not high, the altitude is only 40 to 50 meters, because the mountain is beautiful, since ancient times, it has attracted many literati and scholars to visit here. Most of the scenes in "Spring River Plumbing" were filmed around Stork Mountain Park.
Stork Mountain Park by the Fuchun River Weng Xin Tu
Climb stork mountain from the Fuchun River, follow the stone path up the steps, and come to the mountainside in a few steps. There is the "first floor of the Spring River" rebuilt during the Qing Dynasty, standing here you can overlook the fence, the Spring River is picturesque, and you can see it from afar.
The "First Floor of Chunjiang River" is a landmark building of Stork Mountain and the best place to view the river. Yu Dafu wrote in his essay "Crossing the Fuchun River", "People who have not been to Fuyang will never think of climbing a few steps to see this picture of Huang Zijiu who has been rejuvenated by mountains and rivers." It was 1933, and he brought friends from Hangzhou to Fuyang to enjoy the scenery of the Fuchun River.
The first floor of chunjiang, the best view of the river Weng Xintu
Yu Dafu is a native of Fuyang, and his home is near Stork Mountain, which is where he often comes. The "Huang Zijiu" mentioned in the article is, of course, the "big idiot Daoist" who painted the "Fuchun Mountain Jutu".
Next to the first floor of the Spring River, there is a camphor tree, which is more than three hundred years old, with lush branches and leaves, like a huge green umbrella, and people who come to play in Stork Mountain like to sit under the tree and take a nap. Yu Dafu has a photo with the whole family, which was taken under this old camphor tree.
The old camphor tree on Stork Hill bears witness to the historical changes of Fuyang Weng Xintu
When Yu Dafu's mother celebrated her seventieth birthday, the whole family took a group photo under the camphor of Stork Mountain.
This old camphor tree also appears many times in the movie, it is a place where young people fall in love and date, and later when the characters got married, they also came to worship the heavens and the earth under the tree, which shows that the status of the old camphor tree in the hearts of Fuyang people is very high.
At the foot of Stork Mountain, the east gate of Fuyang Ancient City used to be, so you can still see a section of the ancient city wall. Fuyang has preserved few historical relics, basically concentrated around the Stork Mountain, in addition to the city wall, there is also an ancient post road leading to Qiantang at the foot of the mountain, and the Spring River embankment paved with bluestone slabs, which are fully reflected in the movie.
Yan Ziling Fishing Platform
Descending from Stork Mountain, along the east side of the river, there is a stone rock protruding into the Fuchun River, resembling a peninsula, and the stone stele of "Yanziling Fishing Rock" stands on the rock head, which is said to be the fishing place of the Eastern Han Hermit Yan Ziling.
Since ancient times, there have been countless people fishing on the Fuchun River, and Yan Ziling should be the most famous one.
"Yan ZiLing Fishing Rock" ancient stele Weng Xin tu
According to the Book of Later Han, Yan Ziling was a good friend of Liu Xiu when he was young, and later Liu Xiu became emperor of Guangwu, and Yan Ziling did not want to come out, so he hid in anonymity. Liu Xiu sent people to search everywhere, and finally found him by the Fuchun River. Liu Xiu repeatedly invited him to come out as an official, but he just did not go, and finally returned to the Fuchun River to live in seclusion and fishing.
I remember in the movie, there was a man wearing a cloak, a bucket hat, and a fishing rod walking through the long corridor by the river, which looked very similar to Yan Ziling from the shape.
Yan Ziling fishing place in the movie stills
Yan Ziling was praised by posterity because he represented a spiritual realm of chinese literati. Chinese culture for thousands of years, hermit culture is an important tradition, when Huang Gongwang traveled all over the famous mountains and rivers, but he was particularly fond of the Fuchun landscape and painted a long scroll of landscapes, of course, it is also related to the hermit cultural background represented by the Fuchun River.
The story of Yan Ziling obviously also influenced the later Yu Dafu. He once carved a seal of "I am an old angler in the Spring River", which shows that he has the same interests as Yan Ziling. When he moved to Hangzhou to live, he originally wanted to be attached to the landscape, but then the Anti-Japanese War broke out, and his dream of retreat was never realized.
Along the Fuchun River, there are two relics preserved as the "Yanziling Fishing Place", one in Fuyang Stork Mountain, and the other in Tonglu, the latter is more famous, Yu Dafu once wrote the essay "Spring Day of the Fishing Platform", which is now a paid attraction, and stork mountain here is still a lot of people fishing here every day.
"Kamegawa Pavilion" appearing on the movie poster
On the east side of Yanziling Fishing Rock, there is an antique three-story pavilion called "Kamegawa Pavilion", which is the same building that appears on the movie poster.
Legend has it that there are thousands of years old turtles living in the waters near here, and every autumn moon night, it will float on the surface of the water and swallow the shadow of the river and moon, so it is called "Kamegawa Autumn Moon", which is one of the ancient "Eight Views of the Spring River", and the name of "Kamegawa Pavilion" comes from this.
Nowadays, around the "Kamegawa Pavilion", there are many swimmers. In Hangzhou's Qiantang River, because there is a guardrail, it is not allowed to swim, I did not expect that Fuyang can swim here. After three or four o'clock in the summer afternoon, more and more people come to swim, like a lively riverside bath.
In summer, there are many people swimming in the Fuchun River
Seeing so many people swimming, I also kind of wanted to go down. However, someone on the shore told me that the people who come here to swim are locals with excellent water quality, basically come every day, the water here in Stork Mountain is more complicated, there are whirlpools under the water, and it is best for ordinary people not to go into the water.
Continue east along the river, and in the distance you will see the First Bridge of the Fuchun River, connecting the north and south banks. There is a ferry terminal under the bridge, and the boats are bound for Sinsa Island.
The Fuchun River is narrower in this section of the Stork Mountain, after which the river becomes wider, forming a Jiangxin Island in the middle, which is Xinsha Island, and taking a ferry is the only way to get there. In the movie, Teacher Jiang's father drove a ferry boat, and later held a water wedding on the ferry.
Next to the first bridge of the Fuchun River, the ferry boat to Xinsha Island is Weng Xintu
Uddhav's Former Residence
Yu Dafu's former residence is just west of Stork Mountain. A small Chinese-style courtyard stands alone on the Linjiang Square, surrounded by old houses that have been demolished, and this area is now called Yudaf Park.
In front of the former residence, the statue of the young Yu Dafu sits on a stone, holding a scroll in his hand, facing the yo-yo river.
Former residence of Uddhav Weng Xin Figure
The former residence of Yu Dafu sits north and faces south, and the brick and wood structure buildings with three bays are typical of Jiangnan white walls and black tiles. The first floor of the former residence is the main hall, displaying some inscriptions and paintings of Yu Dafu and his friends, and the second floor is the bedroom, and the furnishings of the former residence are arranged according to the original appearance of the residence at that time.
Coming out of the former residence, there is a small green courtyard with some Chinese herbs planted in the flower garden, indicating that the Yu family was once a family of Traditional Chinese medicine. Looking at the scale of the former residence, it should be considered a solid family in the local area, but because he lost his father at an early age, and later the family was in a difficult situation, he lived with his mother Lu Shi's diligent and thrifty family.
The waters of the Fuchun River nurtured Yu Dafu, where he spent his childhood and adolescence.
In his essays, he wrote that when he was a child, he went to play by the river every day, went to see the sailing boats on the river, and the smoke trees and green mountains across the river, and liked to daydream by the river until he was 17 years old and left Fuyang with his eldest brother. After returning from studying abroad, although he has been traveling outside, he will often go home to see that his mother and his original wife, Sun Quan, have been living here.
In addition to this former residence, there is also a former residence of Yu Dafu on Hangzhou University Road. In 1933, he and his second wife, Wang Yingxia, moved their family from Shanghai to Hangzhou, and also built a house of their own, named "Wind and Rain Maolu". However, there was no shelter for him, and not long after the house was built, his relationship with Wang Yingxia broke down, and in 1938, he left China and drifted to Nanyang.
What many people don't know is that Yu Dafu is not only a famous writer in the history of modern literature, he is also a martyr who sacrificed overseas.
During his stay in Singapore, Yu Dafu published a large number of articles promoting the anti-Japanese resistance. Later, after the fall of Singapore, he went into exile on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, where he secretly protected and rescued many Indonesians and overseas Chinese. After Japan's defeat and surrender in 1945, he was secretly killed by Japanese gendarmes due to the exposure of his pseudonym.
What makes people lament is that not only Yu Dafu, but also his brother Yu Hua was assassinated by the Japanese after the fall of Shanghai. Yu Dafu's mother died after the Japanese army occupied Fuyang, hiding in the Stork Mountain hunger strike, on the Stork Mountain, there is now a "Double Lieting Pavilion" commemorating the Yu brothers.
Riverside fish market
The riverside pier near Embo Park, with a traditional fish market, has existed for many years.
Riverside Fish Market Weng Xin Picture
Unlike ordinary vegetable markets, fish markets are composed of fishing boats where local fishermen live, every day after fishermen catch fish, they will drive the boats to the river to sell, the shore of the large and small plastic basins, placed fresh, there are bream, silver carp, perch, knife fish, river eel and so on...
"Jiangnan reminiscence, the most memorable is the river fresh", the Water quality in the Fuchun River area is excellent, and the fish produced are known for their tender flesh and no earthy smell, and these river fresh, according to the price per kilogram of the variety, range from tens of yuan or hundreds of yuan. Local fishermen told me that when the income is good, they can sell for thousands of yuan a day.
The four brothers of the Gu family in the movie "Spring River Plumbing" are cooks, fishermen, gamblers and construction workers. Three of them are played by the relatives of director Gu Xiaogang, only the second son of the Gu family is a real fisherman, who still fishes and sells fish by the river every day.
The part of the film about the second son of the Gu family is like a documentary, which truly shows the daily life of fishermen in the Fuchun River.
Fishermen fishing movie stills
Fishermen in Fuyang is an ancient profession, and some old fishermen have been fishing for generations, eating on boats and sleeping on boats. Although the local government has always encouraged fishermen to come ashore, they prefer to make their boats their home. Fishing is more difficult, every day before dawn to go out of the boat, put nets, fish, and then come to the fish market in the morning to sell fresh fresh from the river.
There is a scene in the movie where the big brother who runs the restaurant comes to the fish market in the morning and pulls away the fish caught by the second brother, which is also more real. Because the price of wild river fresh is more expensive, many people who come here to buy fish are open restaurants, and some of the rare or expensive river fresh are bought by the hotel owner as soon as they go ashore.
By the way, the "Golden Hotel", the restaurant opened by the Gu family in the movie, is also real, and on the Osmanthus Road in the north of Stork Mountain, the main dish is Fuchun Jiangjiang Fresh.
Huang Gongwang and Fuchun Mountain Residence Map
"Fuchun Mountain Jutu And Leftover Mountain Map" is now in the Zhejiang Museum
The Fuchun River is located in the upper reaches of the Qiantang River, flowing through Tonglu and Fuyang counties in Zhejiang.
Six hundred years ago, Huang Gongwang painted the "Fuchun Mountain Residence Map", known as the "Orchid Pavilion in the Painting", and later this painting was burned into two sections, and now one section is hidden in Zhejiang Bo and one section is hidden in Taipei, which adds legendary color.
Huang Gongwang is a representative of the late success of the great instrument in the painting world, his career was not smooth in his early years, he also went to prison, and later sold his fortune for a living, and when he began to learn painting, he was more than half a hundred years old.
The "Fuchun Mountain Residence Map" was painted by Huang Gongwang when he was seventy-nine years old, for his disciple and his useless teacher. In order to paint this painting, he traveled on both sides of the Fuchun River for many years, inspected the scenery, and painted a large number of exercises or draft paintings, and finally it took three or four years to complete the painting.
Fuyang HuangGongwang hermitage Weng Xintu
Although Huang Gongwang was not from Fuyang, it is said that he grew old in Fuyang.
There is a hermitage of Huang Gongwang in Fuyang, in Miaoshanwu, which is now the "Huanggongwang Forest Park". There I had been there a few years before, and it would take several kilometers north from the side of the road to get there, deep in a valley. Although the scenery is not bad, I think it is too far from the river, and the psychology is still doubtful.
Since 2011, when "Fuchun Mountain Residence Map" was exhibited in Taiwan, Fuyang has been creating a cultural business card of "Huang Gongwang", the most famous representative of which is the "Fuchun Mountain Pavilion" designed by architect Wang Shu, which is a three-in-one complex of Fuyang museum, art museum and archive.
Inspired by Huang Gongwang's landscape paintings, the fun part of the "Fuchun Mountain Pavilion" is that it is interesting to explore the interior space, winding and twisting, like walking through the mountains. The exterior building has a staircase and promenade that leads to the roof, the process is like climbing a mountain, and finally you can stand on the roof and look out over the Fuchun River.
The "Fuchun Mountain Pavilion" designed by Wang Shu tried to create an architectural version of the "Fuchun Mountain Residence Map" Weng XinTu
If Wang Shu's design of the "Fuchun Mountain Pavilion" is an attempt to have a dialogue with Huang Gongwang's landscape paintings from the architectural language, then Gu Xiaogang's film "Spring River Plumbing" is to transform the visual aesthetics of traditional landscape painting into film language, showing the life scene of "Fuchun Mountain Residence Map" more than 600 years later.
This group portrait film about an ordinary three-generation family, there are more than a dozen characters before and after, and no one is the obvious protagonist, because nature (FuchunJiang) in the film is the real protagonist. The whole film is basically a medium and long-range shot, with very few close-ups, and all the characters and behaviors are introduced into the natural landscape and presented from the perspective of painting.
Working photos of the movie "Spring River Plumbing"
When shooting, the director also borrowed the concept of "traveling" in traditional painting. For example, the famous 12-minute long shot, using a lateral way, makes the scenery of the Fuchun River unfold slowly like a long scroll painting, and the audience wanders in the natural landscape with the characters, coupled with Dou Wei's ethereal and long-distance music, with a strong sense of form.
Unlike ordinary directors who construct stories with characters and conflicts, director Gu Xiaogang obviously fully considers the perspective of natural landscapes and humanistic customs to create scripts, including the use of a large number of local non-professional actors in the film, which makes his films have strong regional cultural characteristics.
Stills from the movie "Spring River Plumbing"
Stills from the movie "Spring River Plumbing"
Perhaps related to the impression of tourist cities, the image of contemporary Hangzhou, which is only occasionally used as a filming location for commercial films, only lacks a complete presentation on the screen. "Spring River Plumbing" obviously fills this gap, whether from the aesthetic significance, regional style and folklore display, this is a representative Hangzhou local film.
The subtitles at the end show that the film is not over. The director said that this will be a series of long-scroll films, divided into three volumes, and "Spring River Plumbing" is the first volume. Since the Fuchun River is the upper reaches of the Qiantang River, the next story will follow the river from Fuyang to the main city of Hangzhou, the background is the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, the story will still be based on the present, but the way it is presented is traditional and ancient.
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