Looking back at the "visual culture giant of the Republic of China" Ding Wei
Ding Wei, 1920s, Ding Wei family collection
"This is a person whose work and career are described by us as "slash" (very) fashionable and very popular terms such as 'slash', 'cross-border' and 'cross-media' without the slightest sense of discord."
As early as 6 years ago, Gu Zheng, a professor at Fudan University's School of Journalism, began planning an exhibition to present the life and works of a "visual culture giant of the Republic of China" who was obliterated by time.
Nanyang Brothers Tobacco Company Monthly Card, Ding Wei Painting People, Zhang Guangyu Supplementary Scene, circa 1925, 31.8cm×126.5cm, Zhang Weizang
This person's name was Ding Wei, character Muqin, born on September 16, 1891 in Fengjing Town, Jiashan County, Zhejiang Province (present-day Jinshan District, Shanghai), and died in Shanghai in 1969.
"High and High" Ding Thriller Comics, 1933, 7.5cm×5.5cm, published in the second edition of "Social Daily" on March 20, 1934, Ding Wei's family collection
Ding Wei is the father of cartoonist Ding Cong, who is not only a prolific painter, but also an art educator and art activist. Comics, monthly card painting, newspaper cover illustration, print advertising design; Photography, guest appearances, radio broadcasts, writing reviews, organizing cultural salons... He participated in all kinds of visual expression and communication styles during the Republic of China, and he was also a playful and versatile player, and his creation and life were the object of media chasing in that era, but for a long time afterwards, Ding Wei and his contributions were little known.
Saturday, No. 51, cover, Ding Wei, 1915, courtesy of Shanghai Library
"My grandfather was also quite famous in the cultural circles of the Republic of China, but no one knew about it for the next sixty or seventy years. As far as personal factors are concerned, he suffered from ear disease since the 40s of the 20th century, and later developed hearing in both ears, and since the 50s he has had glaucoma causing blindness in his right eye, not only can not draw, but also has great obstacles to social interaction, so he faded out of social activities. Not to mention the fact that he was branded a 'reactionary academic authority' in the 60s, and in the 70s he rectified the chaos and restored his reputation, but the process was long and did not immediately apply to him. In the 80s, modern literature highlighted the 'Creation Society' and the 'Literary Research Society', and my grandfather's circle of friends was basically the 'Mandarin Butterfly' literati, which would naturally be forgotten. In addition to the pioneer role of the 'New Culture Movement', the research focus of academic circles is more focused on entertainment, media and other forms of mass culture related to ordinary urban people, and my grandfather was also 'unearthed' in this context. ”
Game Magazine, No. 8, cover, Ding Wei, 1914, courtesy of Shanghai Library
From 1944 to 1945, Ding wrote a column for the Oriental Daily entitled "Memoirs of the Forty Years of Art Circle", which recorded anecdotes about the maritime art scene of the Republic of China in the late Qing Dynasty, including vivid literary and artistic gossip, wonderful and interesting stories that he personally heard, and avant-garde and open urban culture. In the past two years, Ding Xia, the grandson of Ding Yu, collected these texts that his grandfather had scattered in the press into "Memoirs of the Forty Years of Art (1902-1945)". Reading this book, you will find that the painter Ding Wei, who is sexually happy, inadvertently drew a group of heroic scores of the scribes of the Shanghai school art industry during the Republic of China period with humorous and exquisite words.
Advertisement for Big Front Door cigarettes, published in British American Tobacco Monthly, Vol. 5, No. 6, 1925, back cover, Ding Wei, 1925
"Ding Wei is an important promoter of the emergence and development of Shanghai's visual culture during the Republic of China, a pioneer and practitioner of the commercial culture of the international metropolis of Shanghai, and a leader of the rich and colorful urban culture of Shanghai." In the spring of 2023, "Muqin's Career - Documentary Art Exhibition for the 130th Anniversary of Ding Wei's Birth" curated by Gu Zheng was unveiled at the Liu Haisu Art Museum in Shanghai, and the exhibition salvaged a creative Ding Wei from the depths of history through 767 exhibits. In August, Gu Zheng edited and published "Muqin's Career: Ding Wei and Modern Art and Culture in the 20th Century", "hoping to use Ding Wei's 'pen' and 'lens' to show today's audience the rich and diverse cultural ecology and interest that unfolded in Shanghai in the first half of the 20th century, and get a glimpse of the origin and grandeur of the new culture of 'Shanghai School'." ”
"Luo Han", Ding Wei Photography, 1928, published in Shanghai Pictorial, February 9, 1928, No. 321, Ding Wei Family Collection
"Art Scrapbook", inner page, Ding Wei, 20th century twenties, 32.2cm×28cm, Ding Wei family collection
"Old painter of the Republic of China"
In the old photo, Ding Wei, who is sitting upright, wears a Chinese gown and round-framed glasses, "with a refreshing head", a loose wind, and quite elegant and bookish. Looking at the lower left corner, he painted the "D" character as a small umbrella stretched out, and connected the "terrifying" character that resembled the umbrella holder at the bottom with the "vertical center", and the playful and vivid signature revealed the naughty heart in the bones of this "old painter of the Republic of China".
Zhang Yuguang, Ding Wei, Liu Haisu group photo, early 20th century, Ding Wei's family collection
Among Ding's colorful labels, cartoonist is his most well-known and acclaimed identity. From the 1910s to the 1940s, Ding Wei published more than 1,000 comic works in newspapers and periodicals, reflecting his active exploration of comic book form and visual presentation of newspapers and periodicals.
At that time, the print media in Shanghai was developed, and a large number of newspapers and magazines were used in cover art, illustrations and print advertising designs. These drawings, which he personally created, are fresh and uniquely conceived, which make the pages of newspapers and periodicals shine and readers can see them. Gu Zheng emphasized, "In that era when we can discuss treacherous and changeable current affairs and public sentiments, comics are an important means for Ding Wei to express his opinions and participate in promoting social progress." Whether it is a needle of current affairs that unfolds in a continuous drawing or a single comic that hits the nail on the head, it is his masterpiece. Ding Wei, because of his comics and flat images, is credited to the development of the Republic of China print media. ”
Between 1909 and 1910, China's earliest daily pictorial newspaper "Picture Daily" published a total of seven "Muqin manuscripts", including Ding Wei's "Is for Diplomats" and "Princes Do Not See This Power World" and other cartoons. When the 19-year-old first tried to speak, Ding Wei had not yet received professional training, but he could sketch accurate images with smooth stick figures. For example, in the comic "The Moneyism of Members of the Autonomous Bureau", Ding Wei used exaggerated techniques to draw a giant magnifying glass full of coins in front of the legislator's poop, using the "insight of the X-ray mirror" to expose the hypocrisy of the legislators who participated in the election not to devote themselves to local autonomy, but only to seek power and private interests, satirizing that "the election of the members of the autonomous bureau inside and outside the city is full of strange situations."
Since he was a child, Ding Wei liked to paint everything, and his neighbors praised him as a "prodigy" who "painted gods like gods and ghosts like ghosts". His father died early, and Ding Wei, as the eldest son, shouldered the responsibility of supporting the family. When he left Fengjing Town at the age of 13 and went to Shanghai to join his relatives and enter the old Beimen Changtai pawn shop as an apprentice, he still loved art. Soon after submitting a comic to the Picture Daily newspaper for publication, Ding Wei entered the correspondence school of Chinese and Western drawings founded by Zhou Xiang (1871-1933), where he concentrated on drawing, watercolor, and oil painting for nearly a year.
"Scenery - Leifeng Pagoda", Ding Wei photography, 1920s, Ding Wei family collection
"Mr. Zhou is good at Chinese painting and calligraphy, and his poetry is also very good, Western painting is a half-way monk, which seems to be less pure and good than Chinese painting, and he often makes satirical paintings for newspapers, his style is like Feng Zikai, and his pen power is better than Feng." Ding Wei commented that Zhou Xiang is "extremely rigid in nature and unwilling to trend kitsch works", and his own signature also comes from the inheritance of this mentor, "His signature Zhou Xiang, written horizontally in parallel, opened the precedent of signing Western-style names in various houses, and the signature of my painting was influenced by him, it can also be said that it completely imitated his, he signed very vivid and beautiful, and I signed clumsily and evilly." ”
Zhou Xiang founded many art schools such as the Shanghai Oil Painting Academy and the China Art College, and Xu Beihong called him "the first person in Shanghai to establish an art school". Judging from the "Picture Lectures" accumulated by Ding Wei in the Chinese and Western Picture Correspondence School, Zhou Xiang once taught Ding Wei burlesque painting (comics). "The interest of burlesque painting is in the sustenance, so its meaning should be shallow, and its meaning should be deep." Zhou Xiang pointed out that to draw burlesque paintings, it is necessary to adopt exaggerated methods to deal with the characters, so that "the shape is strange, and people can't help it." Ding Wei's later comic practice has always followed Zhou Xiang's teachings.
In April 1911, Ding Wei, together with Zhang Yuguang, Qian Yihe, Ma Xingchi, Shen Bochen and others, co-founded "Funny Pictorial", although only one issue was published, it was one of the earliest comic magazines in China. In August of that year, the supplement "Declaration" "Freedom Talk" was launched. According to Ding Wei's recollection: "My debut illustration was first shown when I first opened the butt of the "Declaration" - 'Free Talk', edited by Mr. Wang Jungen. At that time, there were not many caricatures, but the deceased friend Brother Shen Bochen could be called the authority in this. He has written many times in memory of his friend Shen Bochen, "His caricature, I admit that he is an unprecedented success in the mainland, and what I have served in my life is only him." Not only does his thoughts have profound meanings, but the beauty of structure and line is intoxicating and enviable. What impressed Ding Yu the most was Shen Bochen's "illustration of a catastrophe", "The picture is a house slaughtering pigs, a German person drove a group of pigs into this house of pig slaughter, pigs are Entente, therefore, it greatly touched the anger of the British and Americans... Is it unbearable that such an unconventional work can happen within the scope of his concession? After the "Declaration" was shocked by this, it did not publish any caricatures until before the war. ”
"Pan Xueyan", Ding Wei Photography, 1928, published in Shanghai Comics, No. 29, 1928, Ding Wei Family Collection
From the 1910s to the early 1920s, Ding Wei contributed to "Declaration and Freedom Talk" for a long time, drawing a large number of comics, illustrations and masthead illustrations, and participated in "Free Talk Meetings" many times, publishing several game articles, short stories and drama talks; During the same period, he had close contacts with literati such as Wang Jungen and Zhou Xiaojuan. As the "visual director" of literary and art publications such as "Game Magazine" and "Saturday", Ding Wei has contributed a series of cover art and illustrations with great aesthetic interest. In the early days of the Republic of China, he and these colleagues in the art and cultural circles jointly created an urban reading culture of leisure, entertainment and fashion.
In 1914, Chen Xiaodie inscribed a poem for Ding Wei's "Two Points of Spring Color", and once sighed: "Reading Muqin's paintings, there are often poems, but the pen cannot achieve its meaning." "At that time, I painted the covers of magazines, and Ding Wei's works were the most common. In 1916, when Zhang Guangyu, who was 9 years younger, met Ding Wei, "Old Ding was already quite successful and famous in Shanghai", which was Zhang Guangyu's feelings, and it was also Ding Wei's real status in society at that time. 10 years later, Ding Wei, Zhang Guangyu, Zhang Zhengyu, Ye Qianyu, Lu Shaofei and others founded China's first comic society "Comic Club". As the first generation of cartoonists in China, these pioneers opened up a new horizon for satirical and burlesque comics, and the publication they founded Shanghai Comics nourished and promoted future generations, opening the golden age of comic art.
Around 1923, Ding Wei was selected by the "headhunter" because of his superb painting skills, and entered the British American Tobacco Company to engage in advertising paintings. As a senior in China's advertising industry, Ding Wei frankly admits that "artists succumb to business" and "are not free": "The most painful thing is that the advertisers of manufacturers are not only subjective, but also lack artistic accomplishment, it is impossible to understand the author's ideas, and often nitpick and suggest unreasonable revision requirements." A work that was not originally broken, so it was cut beyond recognition, making people laugh and cry. ”
The month card that is still talked about was once a major block in the commercial art of the Republic of China, and Ding Wei was also one of the earliest longitudinal writers of month card painting. Wang Zengqi once said: Ding Wei's paintings, "The pen intention is between Chinese painting and comics, and such paintings seem to be absent now." ”
The inner page of "A Hundred Beautiful Pictures of the Customs of the Republic of China", Ding Wei, 1918, published by the China Federation of Literature and Literature Publishing House
"Provost of American College"
Yu Wei and Ding Jun were in the same car, and Ding Jun looked around, and saw that the young girl's eyes were staring at each other for a moment. To ridicule its faux pas. Ding Jun smiled, Yu is not? Take the picture ear. According to Wang's slightly mocking account, Ding Wei once "stared" at women on the bus, but said that he only wanted to accumulate "painting materials".
In the early Republic of China, "Baimeitu", which combined the paintings of ladies and the fashion of the times, sold well. The fame of the young Ding Wei has a lot to do with the many hundred beautiful pictures he has drawn. In August 1916, the Guoxue Library launched "Ding Wei Baimei Tu" (the first volume), and due to the good response, the second volume was published in February 1917, and Ding Wei became famous in one fell swoop; In March of the same year, the Chinese Library issued "Ancient and Modern Hundred Beautiful Picture Songs" (four volumes), the costume volume was written by Qiu Shounian with a total of 100 upper and lower volumes, and the fashion volume was drawn by Ding Wei, with a total of 50 upper and lower volumes; In April 1918, the Shanghai Transportation Library published the "Ding Wei Baimei Picture Collection". It can be said that Ding Wei's Baimei picture and the "cover girl" he drew for "Saturday" were all the rage and led the fashion of the times.
"In Ding Yu's Baimei picture, or everyone is beautiful, Xiaojia Biyu, or fashionable girl, fair village girl. They wear shorts and trousers, braids and buns, which are fashionable, and the furnishings of their homes are also full of popular air. Xu Tinghua wrote in "Ding Cong's Father: Ding Qi": "In the environment of the era when the west wind was gradually winding east, new ideas affected the lives of the younger generation, and they also affected Ding Qi. The women in the painting ride horses, skate, step blue, sketch, sketch, play the violin, dance ballroom dance, drive around, and talk on the phone are all modern, reflecting the advance of the aesthetic consciousness of new women and painters in those years. The women are all very moving, full of spirit, and have a new life style. ”
Gu Zheng pointed out that drawing a hundred beautiful pictures at that time not only tested the painter's sensitivity to reality, but also was an opportunity for the painter to show his talents. "Through this style, he (Ding Wei) used exquisite pen and ink to shape the reality and imagination of women in the early Republic of China, and helped the rising citizens' visual consumption."
As early as the autumn of 1913, Ding Wei was invited to join the Shanghai Academy of Graphic Art (later renamed Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts) as the provost. Because of her growing fame in painting, in addition to teaching at the Shanghai Fine Arts College, she was later hired as an art teacher by Shenzhou Women's School, Tongji University and Yan Mo Girls' School. At that time, women's education was gradually accepted by the world, and Ding Wei gained the convenience of "taking pictures from the ear" because of his status as a teacher in a girls' school, and after mastering photography technology, he also took the opportunity to focus on "Baimei" and take photos for girls. He once said that filming "girls in various schools, that is my obligation". The surviving photos of Ding Wei now not only show the class scenes of the girls from the coeducational school at that time, but also capture the style of the girls in the church girls' schools of that era.
Ding Wei (second from left) and Zhang Guangyu (third from left), 1922, 22.5cm×40cm, courtesy of Zhang Guangyu Art Documentation Center
Regarding the old story of teaching at a girls' school, Ding Wei also has a narrative. "Song Ziwen's wife, Ms. Zhang Leyi, is also a student of Yan Mo's... Plain loves grooming... Once when I was watching the movie with Leopan and Yun Niche at the 'Odian' on North Sichuan Road, Yun Niche suddenly found a very beautiful girl in the crowd in front of us, encouraging us: 'Why don't you step forward and feast your eyes', at this time I saw clearly that it was our high-footed Zhang Leyi, and said: 'Don't come nonsense, that's our student, behaving like this, where is the teacher's way?' The cloud shrines all gasped. Such jokes used to be common, because at that time, I served in several schools, and there were many male and female students, so in the playground, I often did not even dare to look at the wild eyes, not pretending to be a gentleman, but really seeking his own government in his position, and his status was a crime, and he had to do so. ”
In terms of art education, Ding Wei has also made outstanding contributions. He was the first provost of the Shanghai Art College, the "source of emerging art", and the school's principal was Liu Haisu, the "art traitor" who dared to fight with the warlord Sun Chuanfang about mannequins. However, in the early days, his calligraphy and painting were really not unique, his courage was indeed great, and the world's reputation was discredited, all of them ignored, I went my own way, no matter for foreign painting and Chinese painting, a brute force can be observed on his pictures. The achievements of his career are also all due to his indomitable work. If a personality like me were to seek truth from facts and follow the steps, I am afraid that a hundred would not be able to resist one of him. ”
Compared with many famous artists in Shanghai Fine Arts College, Ding Wei's influence has not been discovered before. From 1913 to 1918, he served as provost and then until 1928, he successively served as a teacher of Western painting, technical teacher training, correspondence department and pattern department, and taught plaster casts, copying, life drawing, figures, watercolors, pencil drawing, pattern making, advertising patterns, etc... Despite the fruitful teaching achievements, Ding Wei humbled himself and laughed at himself: "A person who has not even stepped into kindergarten, let alone graduated from high school or college, I will be old-faced, and I will be called a teacher in the south, not only in ordinary schools, but even as a professor in universities and vocational schools. ”
The "daring" Ding Wei did have many pioneering achievements during his full-time teaching in the United States: in 1914, he and Zhang Yuguang, Xu Yongqing, Liu Haisu and others initiated the Zhenqing Calligraphy and Painting Association and published "Zhenqing Calligraphy and Painting Collection" as a model textbook; In 1919, he and Jiang Xiaolu, Liu Yanong, Zhang Chenbo, Yang Qingpan, Chen Xiaojiang and other art groups "Tianma Club", until 1928, "Tianma Club" held a total of 9 exhibitions, including Chinese painting, Western painting, sculpture, photography and other styles, opening up the atmosphere of Chinese art exhibitions, almost all of the famous artists of that era participated in the "Tianma Club" art exhibition.
The reform of replacing copying in the teaching of Western painting has gone through a long "struggle", especially on the issue of human body sketching, Ding Wei once argued in his "Essays on Painting": "The most interesting thing for a painter is human body sketching. Whether it is oil painting or drawing, I feel that there are endless mysteries. Some people say that this is just your bad intentions, but when I saw the naked model, I probably had an incredible feeling, so I thought it was very interesting. I say, God knows, this kind of interest is to arouse the mystery of the various lines and the strangeness of the contours on the human body. No matter what the curve of the world is, it cannot be compared to the special nature of the human body. This kind of thing is known only to the person who paints... To learn about climate change, you must learn to sketch in the wild; To learn the changes in contours and colors, you must learn to sketch the body. ”
Ding Wei, who inherited Zhou Xiang, received copying teaching in his early years, and during his full-time teaching in the United States, under the inspiration of Chen Baoyi, he cultivated his cognition and practice of life drawing. "At the beginning, when the mainland studied Western painters, it was still good to copy many kinds, but it was not enough to train, and Shi (Chen Baoyi) advocated life drawing as a basic practice... At that time, all the teachers had a lot of unscrupulous teaching methods, and they were also one of them, and they were extremely worried beforehand, afraid that the scholars would laugh later, and they were comforted, teaching me not to worry... Teach me several important rules in sketching. According to Ding Wei's recollection, Chen Baoyi's self-built studio also provided convenience for him to practice body photography, "Once Qi Foqing and I found a stunner, and wanted to take nude photos of models, but there was no suitable place for a while, so we took a car to Jiangwan, and the fake studio practiced, and the result was that the light was soft and beautiful that no ordinary photo studio could match."
Although Ding Wei was not the central figure in the nude model scandal of the American College, until his later years, he firmly believed that hiring nude models to sketch was the innovation of the American College. In addition, Ding Wei confessed that he was also obsessed with collecting "nude photos of various countries, whether male and female couples or singles", and when he collected the most, "there were more than a thousand, and most of the secret scenes taken by Westerners accounted for ... There are not many domestic products, there are very few good ones, and the single ones can be a little allegorical, there are more than ten kinds of exaggerated pictures in Japan, and those made by Western masters are also nearly ten leaves, the lines are beautiful, and the composition is abrupt."
Ding Wei and Zhou Xuan, 1940s, Ding Wei family collection
"Literary Salon Lord"
On Ding Wei's 50th birthday, friends celebrated his birthday at the Cangzhou Hotel, and more than 100 celebrities in the art industry attended. (Lilies)
In August 1925, Ding Wei's family moved to No. 31 Tianxiang Lane (now Lane 847, South Huangpi Road), according to Ding Cong's recollection: Ye Qianyu lived on the second floor, Lu Zhixiang lived downstairs, Tewei lived behind, and Zhang Guangyu lived at No. 19. The Ding family is relatively spacious, the first floor is the living room, Ding Wei and his wife live on the second floor, and the eldest son Ding Cong lives on the third floor. For a time, this place became a base camp for a crowd of sages: Zhang Guangyu, Ye Qianyu, Lu Shaofei, Wang Renmei, Li Lili, Zhou Xuan, Jin Yan, Nie Er... Every weekend and holiday, Junjie from all walks of life come in and out, talk and chat, gossip and distract themselves, and even "eat and drink".
Huang Miaozi, who later became a frequent visitor, once recorded the first time he entered Ding's house in 1932: "It was about a Saturday night, and a large number of movie and drama stars at that time were distributed in the living room downstairs and the uncle's house of the Ding family on the second floor. Because I unexpectedly saw so many celebrities at once, I was a little blushing at that time, and I hurriedly saw Uncle Ding's family, so I quickly hid in Ding Cong's cabin on the third floor. ”
Ding Cong, who was a middle school student at the time, often sat among these celebrities and listened to them talk and laugh. Nie Er came to Ding's house, and the young Ding Cong once pestered Nie Er into his upstairs "pavilion" to tell him horror stories, "Once Nie Er got drunk, walked to the patio, climbed down the wall to the attic to sleep"; As soon as the big stars of the Mingyue Song and Dance Club were free, they always came to Ding's house in groups to play, according to Ding Wei's recollection: "Neizhong (Xue) Lingxian is the most jumpy, and all the tricks are mostly her initiative." At that time, Xiao'er Yiyi (Ding Cong) was about the same age as them, so Ling Xian often ate Yiyi tofu, saying, 'Give Xiao Baizi (Baihong) to Xiao Ding, and I will be the matchmaker', (Wang) Renmei, (Li) Lili, and Hu Jia, and Yiyi was stunned, seeing them coming, he often avoided the table, and the pavilion where he lived alone was sometimes occupied by them, and he had to not go in. ”
After Wang Renmei, Li Lili, Bai Hong, etc. became famous, they followed them to the Ding family as guests, as well as Zhou Xuan, who was still in the career development period. When Zhou Xuan was a trainee in the Mingyue Club at the age of twelve or thirteen, Ding Yu met her and cared for her. Zhou Xuan and "Mr. Ding" were very close, and there were frequent letters and photos, but in the later narrative about Zhou Xuan, Ding Xia said: "I also had such doubts, and I once asked my grandmother and father. The grandmother completely treated Zhou Xuan as a child and felt that she should not leave the family; My father said that my grandfather was also biased towards Yan Hua (Zhou Xuan's ex-husband) in this matter. At that time, public opinion was almost on Zhou Xuan's side, and even regarded her as 'Nala who ran away', and my grandfather always stayed away from right and wrong, and since public opinion turned to the side, he was unwilling to make a splash and avoided those tabloid reporters. After Yan Hua remarried, he didn't mention the old words. When he was young, his grandfather was also a new school of literati, advocating that women go to society and liberate themselves, but by the thirties and forties of the 20th century, he felt that he seemed to be a little out of step with the times, and he thought that women should pursue career development, but also focus on family. ”
In the newly published "Memoirs of Forty Years of Art (Archives)" published in August 2023, Ding Xia added 12 letters from Ding Wei and Zhou Xuan. "Most of these letters from Zhou Xuan to my grandfather were not clearly dated, and the two dated letters were written during her return to Shanghai in 1957 for medical treatment, in which Zhou Xuan also said that he would visit his grandfather after recovering from illness, and his grandfather was naturally very happy, and told several friends about it, but he did not expect that shortly after the last one was written, Zhou Xuan died suddenly, which is really embarrassing."
Among the photos collected by Ding Wei's family, there are many photos signed by celebrities, as well as photos taken by him from all walks of life. The gentle Ding Wei is a well-known "good gentleman" in the circle, and when he socializes with friends, he often takes photos of the red men and green women around him because he carries a camera and is very service-oriented. Ding Wei, who is also a photographer and a Beijing Opera ticket holder, has left many photos with documentary value because of his close relationship with a famous person.
"(Xun) Hui Sheng did not know me (Ding) when he came out, and Sha You Tian taught him to read square characters every day, and also copied the character posts, which is also considered his talent and intelligence, and actually entered the realm very quickly, and even later even learned painting for him", Ding Wei took a photo of this "illiterate famous dan" leaning on the rockery and reading diligently, "Huisheng has the greatest advantage, it is willing to be instructed, every time after stepping down, he always asks everyone here, what are the shortcomings on the stage today, or what needs to be reformed, we always tell him truthfully, the next time he repeats himself he will correct it, He can be one of the four famous dan, and he is not lucky at first. ”
Ding became a photography enthusiast and was influenced by his friend Lang Jingshan. When Lang Jingshan was working part-time in the advertising department of "Declaration", Ding Wei noticed his high-end camera, "the mirror box, although not new, but the brand is very good, and it is a four-inch reflector", but "the weight is particularly heavy", Ding Wei ridiculed Lang Jingshan: "No matter where he goes, his reflector like a night pot box is always carried with him, not leaving for a moment, adding him a warm swallowing tone, which really makes people laugh." We nicknamed him 'Carrying Night Pots'. ”
Ding Wei, who is "excellent photographer in his life", sometimes stands in front of the camera to "pose", and has a lot of fun. In 1924, "Half Moon" published a photo of Zhou Xiaojuan and Ding Wei, both of whom appeared in women's clothing, and there was a portrait of Zhou Xiaojuan in women's clothing when she was 14 years old, entitled "Thin Juan Makeup", accompanied by the description: "The so-called Qian Ying of Prince Wen Yan (taken fifteen years ago)". Ding Wei once took over the drudgery of illustrating novels because of this "friend", "I remember once, I painted the illustrations of "Shizhang Jingchen" and "Leftover Powder and Residual Fat" for the thin juan's "Half Moon". One is the bathers in the bathhouse, all naked, and there can be nothing wrong with each person's body painting... One is a woman sitting on a low stool and sitting on a copper bed cutting the nails of a teenager... Chapters are difficult to arrange. I said to the skinny juan, you have suffered me, drawing these two illustrations is more difficult than drawing ten colorful covers... Isn't it wronged? ”
Ding Wei and Zhou Xiaojuan have a good friendship, and the two have known each other for more than 50 years from the period of "Declaration and Free Talk" to the age of 70 when Zhou was 70 years old. In 1964, Ding Wei's twilight year, coinciding with the 70th birthday of Zhou Xiaojuan, Zheng Yimei and Tao Lengyue, a group of old friends celebrated the birthday of the three at the long-established Xinya Restaurant in Shanghai, and took a group photo after the dinner.
"It's a serious and even a bit dull picture, perhaps related to people's aging mood and current situation." Most of the 22 people who took a group photo together were cultural figures who were very popular in Shanghai at the time, and Ping Yiya, Cheng Xiaoqing, Lu Ze'an, Yan Duhe and others were also over seventy." Gu Zheng believes that this group photo is "extraordinary" and makes people think deeply about "the heavy fate of individuals in the big era" - four years later, in 1968, Zhou committed suicide in Suzhou. A year later, Ding died of illness.
(References: "Muqin's Career: Ding Wei and Modern Art and Culture in the 20th Century", "Memoirs of Forty Years of Art (1902-1945)", etc.; Acknowledgements: Liu Haisu Art Museum, Gu Zheng, Ding Xia, Hu Yue, Zhao Shuping, etc. ）
Southern People Weekly reporter Li Naiqing
Editor-in-charge Yangzi