In the historical smoke of the birth of New China, there was a famous man in Jiangnan who caught a glimpse - Zeng Liansong. Zeng Liansong was just an ordinary person among the hundreds of millions of people who were full of excitement when New China was founded, and he did not learn art design. It seems to be a stroke of God, and he "picks" the brilliant image of "stars", which is closely connected with the symbol of the Republic; The second half of his life was also full of ups and downs due to the special identity of the flag designer...
He was born into a family of scholars
On December 17, 1917, the fifth day of the first month of the lunar calendar, Zeng Liansong was born in the coastal town of Ruian. It is a place of beautiful mountains and rivers, prosperous industry and commerce, prosperous literary style and celebrities.
Zeng Liansong was born in a family of scholars who were not very wealthy, his grandfather Zeng Xuqing was a well-known local old Chinese medicine doctor, and his father Zeng Yuren was a water conservancy engineering technician, first working in the Hangzhou Bay Haitang Water Conservancy Engineering Office, and later transferred to the "Guide Committee" in Nanjing. Her mother, Shen Bingdi, came from a famous family and also knew a lot of words. When Zeng Liansong was a child, his family lived in three houses at No. 14 Shuixin Street in Ruian City, which were rented from relatives. In the winter of 1932, 16-year-old Zeng Liansong graduated from Ruian Junior High School and came to his father in Nanjing. The following year, he was admitted to the high school of Jiangsu Provincial Nanjing Middle School. In 1938, he joined the Communist Party of China, actively engaged in underground activities, and served as the secretary of the underground party branch of students at Central University. He has served as a member of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference for five terms and a member of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference for six terms, and is the author of books and some poems such as "Outline of the Development of Ceramics" and "Knowledge of Daily Miscellaneous Products".
Shut yourself up in the attic and do design
Back in the summer of 1949, Zeng Liansong, who was working as a secretary at the Shanghai Modern Economic News Agency, had just recently brought his wife Xiang Peiyu and eldest son Yichong from his hometown Ruian to Shanghai and settled in the staff dormitory at No. 466 East Section of Huashan Road. It is a small, deserted garden, jagged and overgrown. Zeng Liansong's family lived in a small room on the side, plus a small attic. Although it was shabby, it was very satisfactory for Zeng Liansong at that time.
After the liberation of Shanghai on May 27, 1949, this news agency, which originally belonged to the leadership of the Shanghai underground party of the Communist Party of China, completed its historical mission. But he always felt that his whole body was endless, and he always wanted to do more. Soon, People's Daily, Xinhua Daily, Jiefang Ribao, and others published notices soliciting national flag designs. He carefully read it several times: the motherland is reborn, collective wisdom and efforts, why can't I give it a try?! According to family recollections, during that time, he locked himself in the attic every day after work, watching, writing, and painting, even if he ate, he had to be urged by his wife three times and twice before he came down, almost to the point of forgetting food and sleep. So much so that young children said to their mothers, should they take their father to see the disease. In a later conversation, he confided this mental journey: "The establishment of New China has always been a wish that has lingered in my heart, can I not be excited to see her unfold in front of me like the rising sun?" So when I read about the notice of the Preparatory Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference on soliciting the national flag in the July newspaper, I was immersed in the design. ”
"I am not an artist, nor am I engaged in art design, and the reason why I did not measure myself at that time, nor did I care about my work, and the thought of designing the national flag design was really a joy of celebrating the birth of New China, a kind of ardent patriotic passion." However, enthusiasm alone is not enough, and it is not easy for a non-expert to come up with a finished design in a short time. Zeng Liansong said in his recollection: "As soon as I entered the concrete idea, I felt that it was not an easy task, and for more than ten days, I sometimes thought about it, sometimes I scribbled on the paper, and there were a lot of discarded drawings. He didn't know how many times he had read the call for papers, and he could almost memorize the four requirements for the national flag design in the regulations: first, it must have Chinese characteristics, such as geography, history, ethnicity, culture, etc.; Second, it must have the characteristics of political power, the people's democratic dictatorship led by the working class and based on the alliance of workers and peasants; Third, the form is rectangular, and the ratio of length to width is three to two; Fourth, the color is mainly red.
How can the above requirements be accurately and comprehensively reflected in the design of the national flag? Especially one of the two items, Zeng Liansong believes that this is the key issue in the design of the national flag, from an aesthetic point of view, the design of any kind of pattern must first have intention, just like an article, without the correct intention, the article has no soul. The design of the new Chinese flag needs an accurate, appropriate and profound idea. Now, this puzzle was like a bunker standing in his way, and he could not find its breakthrough all of a sudden.
Inspired by a Shanghai opera singing voice
Beat one's brains. Finally one day. A tactful and affectionate Shanghai opera singing voice floated from the window: "Hope for the stars, hope for the moon, hope for the Communist Party of China..." Zeng Liansong repeatedly meditated, and suddenly found inspiration: The Communist Party of China is the great savior of the Chinese people, there was a red five-star on the hat of the Red Army back then, and it is not very meaningful to use the five-pointed star, the symbol of the revolution, as the main body of the national flag?
After more than ten days of drawing and design, he took out the first draft: a big star was used to guide the front, and several small stars surrounded the back, symbolizing the arch of the stars, the big five-pointed star symbolizing the great Communist Party of China, and the small star symbolizing the broad masses of the people, and the people closely surrounding the party. He also designed the five-pointed star to be yellow, which not only harmonizes with the red flag symbolizing the revolution, but also expresses the national characteristics of the yellow race of the Chinese sons and daughters. Then, after repeated deliberation and painstaking consideration, Zeng Liansong determined the appropriate position of the five gold stars. He had envisioned placing large stars in the middle of the flag, with small stars surrounding the big stars. In this way, the view is dignified, but the heaven and earth are not open enough, and the vision is cramped and condensed. Once, he moved the five-star to the upper left of the flag, and suddenly felt that the vision was wide: the flag was as wide as a thousand miles, and Venus was condescending, shining brightly, as if people saw the starlight reflecting the earth, brilliant and brilliant. The combined pattern of the five Venus, echoing in size and density, forms an oval, which is similar to the geometry of the continental territory, which not only expresses the geographical characteristics of China, but also appears stable and harmonious, clear and imposing.
In order to make the whole pattern more prominent the characteristic that the people of the whole country are closely united around the great Communist Party of China, Zeng Liansong designed that the center point of each small star is connected to the center point of the big star through its own star tip, and the historical conclusion that the Communist Party of China is the leadership core of the whole Chinese people is displayed on the flag. Staring at this pattern, Zeng Liansong felt solemn and gorgeous, concise and imposing, and suddenly danced with excitement. In fact, Zeng Liansong does have a certain art foundation. When he was in Ryan Junior High School, he was influenced by art teacher and painter Kim Zuo-ho, and developed a strong interest in calligraphy and painting. When he was studying at Central University, Zeng Liansong often went to listen to Professor Zong Baihua's aesthetic theory classes, which laid the foundation for his later design of the five-star red star pattern.
Years later, Zeng Liansong, who was entering the twilight of his life, recalled: "I was able to design the five-star red flag, and it was very important that I was enlightened by Mr. Kim Zuo-ho, an art teacher, from an early age. ”