Today's Women's Daily/Fengwang reporter Chen Xueyan
"He wrote poems on pancakes, he often wandered around with pancakes on his back, if he came to your city, you can stop and taste them when you pass by, it doesn't matter if you read the poems or not, it's not a waste to eat them in your stomach......"
So, a small stall, a stack of pancakes, eight poems, ten cities, this is Chen Guangyao's 2023 travel annual report.
"Poetry can't be sold for money, pancakes can fill your stomach, so there is a pancake poetry collection. In an interview with a reporter from Today's Women's Daily/Fengwang, Chen Guangyao smiled calmly.
Experiment: The collision of pancakes and poetry
"A meeting is always a meeting, a night of wind. On the night he came to Changsha, Chen Guangyao wrote in his poetry collection. On December 22nd, the 5th Unfamiliar Art Book Fair kicked off in Changsha, the man who wrote poems on pancakes, carried his "Pancake Poetry Collection" into Houhu, many people came to his pancake stall, some for the taste of authentic Shandong pancakes, some for his poems.
For the city of Changsha, Chen Guangyao has long been yearning. Previously, he passed through Changsha because of a business trip, although he did not have time to visit carefully, but this glimpse, Changsha has left a deep impression on his heart. "This time, I plan to try Changsha's food. Chen Guangyao said with a smile that he had heard of the enthusiasm of Changsha people for a long time, and this time he brought seven or eight hundred pancakes, "I used to go to other cities to set up stalls, and I usually only brought two or three hundred."
Some people may ask, who is Chen Kuan Yew?
If you say he's a poet, he's going to wave his hand and laugh at him, but if you call him "pancake seller," he'll tell you solemnly that he's going to write poetry.
Chen Guangyao, 29, a native of Weifang, Shandong Province, has been like air and water for him for as long as he can remember. After resigning in August this year, he was "forced" to become a full-time poet who had loved writing essays and essays since he was a child, so when poetry could not fill his stomach, he naturally thought of pancakes.
"It was a late August afternoon, and on my way back to my hometown, I saw a pancake stand, and the freshly baked pancakes were as thin as rice paper under the sun, and I came up with the idea of writing poems on the pancakes. Mr. Chan vividly remembers sitting on his brother's tricycle, blowing in the wind, and eagerly discussing with him how to put this somewhat ridiculous-sounding idea into reality.
After trying many methods, Chen Guangyao remembered the traditional woodblock New Year paintings that circulated in his hometown of Yangjiabu, which were simple to make and exquisite in craftsmanship, only need to draw a line drawing first, and then paste it on the pear woodblock to carve the line plate and color plate respectively, and then the color can be adjusted and printed, and the finished product is very natural and vivid.
As a result, Chen Guangyao used traditional Shandong pancakes to make "rice paper", bought a large bucket of sweet noodle sauce as "ink", and purchased various tools for engraving and branding, and began to use the printing process of traditional woodblock New Year pictures to make his "Pancake Poetry Collection".
After several twists and turns, from the beginning of the somewhat damaged printing of "Pancake Poems" a few big characters, to the clear and complete printing of the whole poem, later, Chen Guangyao simply typeset the pancakes, a large sheet is divided into nine squares, just write down eight small poems and a big title, just like that, a "Pancake Poetry Collection" was born.
"The first time I saw the 'Pancake Poetry Collection' was in Qingdao. In late October, Mr. Chan recalled, he walked into a book fair on the balcony of Qingdao with 200 pancakes, where he set up his pancake stall for the first time.
"Everyone who came was surprised, saying that they eat pancakes every day, but they have never seen anyone write poems on pancakes. Chen Guangyao smiled while making a "Pancake Poetry Collection" for everyone to see, the brush stained with sauce was drawn on the engraving, and the large pancakes were spread out, and the clear text was printed on the pancakes as soon as they were covered and pressed. Those who were brave came first and tasted a piece, followed by three or five, more and more people came forward to taste, and many people laughed after eating: "Your poem is fragrant and crispy!"
Departure: Start a national "patrol feeding" tour
After receiving a lot of praise, Chen Guangyao took the pancake stall to start a national "feeding" tour to "feed" you write poems, and his "pancake poems" have successively traveled through Qingdao, Weifang in Shandong, Jiaozuo in Henan, and then to Dalian, Changchun, Shenyang, and Hangzhou......
"In these cities, I have participated in many art book fairs, intangible cultural heritage exhibitions and rural revitalization activities, and I have also met many people from all walks of life. Chen Guangyao recalled that many people who had never met before walked to the stall, whether they were for pancakes or poems, they could talk to him for a few words, and sometimes the other party chatted so much that they simply started to help him make pancakes together, and he didn't see them, and he had to call them again the next day.
"Once, I met two very enthusiastic friends in Henan, and they took me on a two-day tour of the local area directly after I set up my stall. Chan Kuan Yew said with a smile that these wonderful encounters on the road with pancakes always made him feel extremely precious.
He was particularly impressed by a group of cute little poets at a rural drama festival in Xiuwu County, Jiaozuo, Henan Province.
"While I was making pancakes, a group of schoolchildren wearing red scarves came around and stared at me thoughtfully. It wasn't until he talked to the teacher that he learned that he was a student from the Dananpo Village Primary School, and that the students at this primary school also learn to write poems, and the teacher also compiled the students' poems into a poetry book and made a mobile exhibition in the local train car, so the children were fascinated when they saw the poems written on the pancakes.
After listening to the teacher's narration, Chen Guangyao immediately invited the children to read the poems on the spot, and after reading them, he gave them a "pancake poetry book", and many students rushed to recite the poems and even exchange poems with him. "I am very happy to have this encounter with the children, which gives us a new understanding of poetry, and I hope that we will all be more bold and innovative, and 'play more tricks' with poetry." He laughs.
Harvest: Exchange poems, but also exchange love
In fact, the "Pancake Poetry Collection" is not the first time Chen Guangyao has innovated in the form of poetry, and he has also "released" a "waste paper poetry collection" among his friends.
It was the end of 2021, and the cold winter in the midst of the epidemic was very difficult, so Chen Guangyao remembered to use poetry to convey care and love to his friends.
"I sent messages to dozens of friends and asked them to send me some of the scrap paper they had, and I collected it, wrote some poems on it, and sent it back to them. Chen Guangyao recalled that after the message was sent, he began to receive all kinds of "waste paper" from his friends, sometimes it was an old newspaper, sometimes it was an old report, a wrong drawing, sometimes it was a scratch paper for children to make questions, and even advertisements......
"From the waste paper, I can get a rough idea of what kind of life my friends are living. While sorting out these imprints of life sent from all directions, Chen Guangyao wrote the poems that recorded his thoughts and feelings on them, sorted them out and bound them, and then sent them back to everyone along the trajectory of his arrival. "I think in this exchange, waste paper also has a new meaning. ”
"Me and my poems have to be on the road. In Chen Guangyao's world, the carrier of poetry may be different at different times, but the connection of various emotions generated by poetry is the same.
Now, with the pancake stall non-stop, Chen Guangyao travels all the way and gains all the way.
"I started experimenting with more new forms, bartering poetry for poetry, and poetry for poetry. Chan Kuan Yew said that once he set up a stall at a village market next to an old woman selling eggs, so he changed his format: he could exchange an egg for a "pancake poetry book"; at some city book fairs, he spread out a book to "invite poems", and everyone could exchange poems for "pancake poems" as well...... He didn't know how long he would travel with the Pancake Poems, but the anticipation of the next city kept urging him to keep going.
Poetry is nothing, spiritual, invisible and intangible, and pancakes are practical, material, and full to be held in your hands. He never thought about the immediate effect of eating this pancake, he just loved to wander around with the pancake on his back.
"If he comes to your city, you can stop and taste it when you pass by, and if he doesn't, you can stop and try it. It doesn't matter if you read the poems or not, and if you don't waste them when you eat them, that's the whole connotation of his poems. Chen Guangyao wrote all the way, embracing the poetry and distance in his heart.
Edit: Yiyi
Second trial: poetry rhyme
Third trial: Ouyang Lingxi