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November 10, 2019, Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts Art Museum.
An elderly man dressed in casual clothes and metal-framed glasses walked like the wind into the art museum.
As he passed a huge promotional poster at the entrance of the museum, he looked up slightly.
The poster is printed with a huge black-and-white photograph of Chaotianmen Square before it was built 21 years ago. Next to the photo, a line of large characters is very eye-catching - "People and Cities, He Zhiya City Image Documentary Exhibition".
He Zhiya told the visitors the story behind the photos
The moment his gaze skimmed over the black-and-white photograph, his eyes were like water.
He is He Zhiya.
In the art gallery in front of him, hundreds of old photographs, either black and white or in color, had been arranged.
The light and shadow that run across the photographs outline the same theme — the silhouette of the city of Chongqing and the memories of the people who lived in it.
A corner of the exhibition hall
A city of memories
"The city, if you regard it as a spirit, will respect it, defend it, cherish it; if you regard it merely as a substance, you will use it indiscriminately, transform it arbitrarily, destroy it at will." ——Feng Jicai
A city's "epic of light and shadow"
At 9:00 a.m. on November 10, He Zhiya walked into the exhibition hall and met with curator Wang Lin.
The entire exhibition hall is divided into five parts: "Key Projects", "Impression of the Old Town", "Traces of ancient towns", "Bayu Architecture" and "Walkers Without Frontiers", and hundreds of urban photographs taken by He Zhiya are arranged among them, waiting for the visitors.
Citizens' viewing
This documentary exhibition is the first exhibition held by the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts Art Museum for people outside the art world, and it involves urban construction and the field of urban history and culture, so as a curator and author, he Zhiya is both excited and has a sense of responsibility.
In addition to being the author of these photos, He Zhiya also has multiple identities - he was once a government civil servant, the chairman of a large state-owned enterprise, the manager of urban planning and construction projects, and a well-known historical and cultural scholar in Chongqing.
Photos of He Zhiya's fieldwork work
In 2011, He Zhiya retired, which can be described as "the completion of merit".
However, there was always a wisp of concern in his heart that could not be abandoned.
Time goes back more than half a century.
In his childhood, He Zhiya lived in Wanglongmen and Lailong Lane in the old city of Chongqing.
Lookout Dragon Gate Lane
Because the family is not rich, he and his sister and brother always find ways to make money to subsidize the family-
They saved up their beloved comic strips and set up stalls in front of the People's Liberation Monument Peace Cinema (now Cathay Plaza), and the fee was not high, and they could read two books for a penny.
They also carried baskets full of citrus on their tender shoulders and peddled them under the old cable car looking at the dragon gate.
Lookout Dragon Gate Cable Car
During the holidays, they also went to 29 to dig an air raid shelter, and used bamboo baskets to transport the excavated soil to the Yangtze River in Linjiangmen to dump it, "once to pick 40 or 50 pounds, a day to run eight or nine times."
……
From today's point of view, such a childhood seems to be a bit "bitter".
But in He Zhiya's heart, these long-term pasts have become the softest memories in my heart, along with the bluestone steps of Wanglongmen and the pier of Linjiangmen that has been washed by waves...
Many, many years later, this little boy who came out of the old city of Wanglongmen became a government civil servant, an urban planning and construction manager, an executive of a state-owned enterprise, and a scholar of local literature and history.
The old appearance of Chaotianmen
After the direct administration, Chongqing City ushered in a rapidly growing "adolescence" - the once crowded and dilapidated old city began to "change a little in March, a big change in a year".
During this period, He Zhiya has presided over and participated in many key projects, including The Liberation Monument Pedestrian Street, Chaotianmen Square, Huguang Guild Hall and so on.
In the process of changing the appearance of the city, He Zhiya saw the "old city" in his memory disappear little by little, and he also felt a hint of parting sorrow.
So he picked up his camera and kept recording the city of Chongqing, which was disappearing and reborn.
Japanese master photographer Michiru Moriyama said: "Photography is not so much a record as a memory." The process of accumulating a series of memories is the fossil of light and time, and the myth of light and shadow. ”
Hongya Cave after completion
For more than 30 years, He Zhiya kept "remembering" Chongqing - he used the holiday period to travel tens of thousands of kilometers, consulted a large number of historical materials, published "Chongqing Old Alley", "Chongqing Ancient Town", "Chongqing Huguang Guild Hall - History and Restoration Research", "Chongqing Old Town", "Chongqing Old Town", "Chongqing Folk House" and other monographs, published more than 850,000 words, and displayed more than 2,000 old pictures of the city with Chongqing as the protagonist.
In He Zhiya's lens, on thousands of negatives, the "epic" of the development and change of a city emerges.
After retirement, with the advice and encouragement of Wang Lin and other friends, He Zhiya decided to hold a document exhibition to share these "memories" and store them in the hearts of more people.
A group of people's "fairy tales of the years"
At 10:00 a.m., the "People and The City, He Zhiya Urban Image Documentary Exhibition" opened.
In the "Impressions of the Old Town" exhibition area, a young and thin girl and her friends linger between old photos.
Xiahaozheng Street, Dongjiaqiao T-shaped intersection
When her eyes met an old photograph called "Shimoho Main Street", the girl was suddenly stunned.
She silently raised her hand, pointed to the mottled bluestone old street in the photo, and whispered: "When I was a child, I lived here - from here along the old, you can go to the river..."
When she said this, the girl's eyes shone brightly, and her voice was extremely soft and soft, as if she was talking to herself.
In the "Ancient Town Trace" exhibition area, an old man with white hair slowly walked to an old photo with the theme of the cross old street in Banan Fengsheng Town, and then he was like being sucked by a magnet, squinting his eyes for a long time.
Banan Town - Cross Street View
After a long time, the old man let out a sigh: "My sister married into the old street." On the day of her wedding, I ran to the cobblestone road to let the cannon fight..."
In the "Key Projects" exhibition area, the eyes of a young couple were deeply attracted by a color photo called "Coral Park".
"Do you remember when we were studying here to fly kites together?"
"Why don't you remember?"
"The wedding photos were also taken here."
"Right."
Coral Park in 1998
In the crowd of visitors, in front of the black-and-white or color old photos, such pictures frequently skimmed the eyes of hualong network - new Chongqing client reporters.
Japanese anime master Takahata Hoon said in "The Fairy Tale of The Years": "Years are a piece of clear water, whether it is flattened or clenched in the palm of the hand, there will always be a little bit of passing through the fingers." ”
And in the yellowed old photos, the passing years can accumulate into a sea of memories, and open the floodgates and pour out at the moment when the eyes and images reunite...
And it is this city that carries these memories.
Yuzhong Peninsula Tuku Dai Xiaoxia photo
For individuals, in a certain chapter of the city's change, every Chongqing person can find a landmark hidden in memory; for the group, the city itself is a huge landmark that holds the origin and destination of the soul.
In the process of urban development, old landmarks are constantly disappearing and changing, and new landmarks are constantly emerging.
A grand proposition of the times is also placed in front of all Chongqing people - for the city that is constantly moving forward, how to deal with the relationship between "old" and "new"?
The City of Burning Love
"A city is like a flower, a grass or an animal, it should remain unified, harmonious and intact at every stage of its growth. And the result of development must not undermine unity, but make it more perfect; it must never compromise harmony, but make it more harmonious; and the integrity of the early structures should be integrated into the more complete structures to be built later. —Howard
The way to "break" and "stand"
Compared with the "memory" city, "protection, inheritance and display" is the important direction of He Zhiya's efforts.
On the east side of the Yuzhong Peninsula, under the East Watergate Bridge, an ancient complex with a golden façade stands between modern buildings.
Huguang Kaikan. Photo by Luo Lan
This is the physical record of the great immigrants who are known as "Huguang Filling Sichuan": Chongqing Huguang Guild Hall.
As one of the most complete and largest-scale guild hall complexes in the country, the Huguang Guild Hall, which was built during the "Huguang Filling Sichuan" movement in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, preserves the historical and cultural bloodline of Chongqing and even the entire southwest region, and has high historical and cultural value.
However, for a long time, the Huguang Guild Hall was used as a residential building, and at one time it was crowded with more than 400 households, which was not only not conducive to the protection and utilization of ancient buildings, but also had great safety risks.
In 2003, the municipal party committee and the municipal government launched the restoration project of the Huguang Guild Hall. As the general coordinator of the project appointed by the municipal party committee and the municipal government, He Zhiya participated in the whole process, and together with many experts and scholars and relevant departments, from the beginning of planning, after several years, finally made the Huguang Guild Hall reappear brilliant.
On September 29, 2005, the opening ceremony of Huguang Kaikan was held
In the process of transforming the city, He Zhiya and his colleagues have always adhered to one goal - "when moving towards a better future, we also want people to leave the mark of history." ”
This is the orientation of Chongqing's urban development.
Eighteen ladders in repair
It's not just Huguang Guild Hall - under the guidance of this concept, in the Eighteen Ladders, Shancheng Lane, Marblehead Stone, Longmen Hao, Eling Mine Factory, Zhongshan Fourth Road, White Elephant Street, Plum Dam... A number of very old "new landmarks" have risen in the ever-changing city of Chongqing.
Recently, the municipal government issued the "Opinions on Strengthening the Planning and Implementation of Historical and Cultural Protection and Inheritance", which put forward the "Road Map" and "Timetable" for building a national historical and cultural city integrating "landscape, humanities and cities".
The "soul" of Chongqing City continued in this way among the mountains and rivers.
"Pass" and "Yang" trip
At He Zhiya's Documenta exhibition, there is a panorama of Jiangbei City.
In the photo, the upper and lower streets run down through densely crowded low bungalows and stretch to the Yangtze River, which is covered with sand and rocks.
For Zhang Xin, a 36-year-old primary school teacher, the picture on the photo has already been "carved" into the bone marrow.
"I grew up in Jiangbei City and lived until the demolition of Shangxia Hengjie." Zhang Xin said.
After the demolition of Jiangbei City, Zhang Xin moved twice with his parents and finally settled in Wulidian, not far from Jiangbei City.
"Since I was a child, I liked to follow my parents to the riverside of Jiangbei City – and now it's the same." Zhang Xin said.
Now, when Zhang Xin's family comes to the river again, on the ruins of the demolition of the old city of Jiangbei, the beautiful Jiangbeizui financial CBD has risen.
Chongqing Grand Theater Photo by Tuku Dai Xiaoxia
Next to the illuminated Chongqing Grand Theatre, among the stylish office buildings, under the Qianpumen Bridge, which stretches across the river like a giant dragon, Zhang Xin and his family wander along the river full of beaches and rocks, everything is as before.
On This year's National Day, Zhang Xin and his cousin came to Jiangbeizui again.
On the rocky beach under the Grand Theater, the brothers looked out into the distance—
Above the river, between the boats, the neon of the city shines with colorful ripples.
At the top of the Yuzhong Peninsula, Raffles City stands majestically like a giant draped in lights.
South of Chaotianmen, at the confluence of the two rivers of Changjia, the fish and dragons on the old street of Marblestone dance at night and the streams are brilliant.
Photo by Raffles City Tuku Zhu Yonghai
In front of the brothers, the old street is gone, and the country is still the same. Above the new city, the sun and the moon are eternal.
Gazing at the grand scenery of the two rivers, the reporter's cousin asked a very "philosophical" question: "Brother, do you think jiangbei was good in the past, or is it good in Jiangbei now?" ”
Zhang Xin blurted out: "Isn't this nonsense? Of course it's good now! ”
As he spoke, he turned his head again, stared at the city standing between the mountains and rivers, and said a more "philosophical" sentence: "The old city has become 'new', but Chongqing is still Chongqing." ”
Hualong Network-New Chongqing client reporter Jiang Liangui Lu Rui Wu Sijia
(All courtesy photos are provided by the interviewee except for the byline)