? At the end of last year, China Guardian Autumn Auction specially planned and launched the special exhibition "Outstanding Art World of Chen Julai", which exhibited 130 classic self-use prints and homemade prints of the elderly, paintings and inscriptions made by the elderly when they contacted famous painters such as Wu Hufan, Zhang Daqian and Xinyu Pu, manuscripts and collections of the elderly, images and letters with friends, etc. The turnover rate and total turnover rate are considerable. The news came that I thought the old man had carved a book seal for me. Why don't you ask a friend of the Indian family to help me make prints and rubbings? On the one hand, I will keep them as souvenirs. On the other hand, if I publish a book or something in the future, it may come in handy. At the moment I took out the seal, all kinds of past events about the old man always existed in my heart, and flashed in my mind like a movie.
? The first time I heard Chen Julai's name was nearly 40 years ago. 1At the end of 983, I was transferred from Anhui Normal University to the Provincial Art College as the editor of Tan Yi magazine. In the second year 1 month, the editorial department leader sent me a good job to visit the old authors of the journal in Shanghai and make an appointment for some new manuscripts. I was ecstatic when I got the list of authors I visited. Some of them, such as Guo Shaoyu, Zhu Dongrun and Xu Zhongyu, are top professors I met from textbooks in college. Isn't it a pleasure to be taught face to face now? There are some unfamiliar names on the list, such as Chen Julai. According to the introduction of the predecessors in the editorial department, this old man in Anchi is great. He is a master of seal cutting in China for hundreds of years.
? After arriving in Shanghai, a young writer who often writes to Tan Yi (only remembers that he lives in Luban Road, but his name really can't be remembered) acts as a liaison to help arrange when and where to visit who. He said that Anzhi's old man is in poor health and is in hospital. See if they can go to the hospital as appropriate. Two days later, he told me that the doctor had a suggestion. In a few days, the Lunar New Year will be over. In order for the elderly to go home for the holidays, it is best to rest in the near future and try to be less disturbed. He also said that the old man was very pleased and grateful to learn that the comrades of the "art circle" had been to Shanghai, and planned to carve it as a souvenir when he was better, so that I could choose the printed words myself. During that trip to Shanghai, I received several heavyweight books when I visited other authors, so I replied and wished the old man a speedy recovery. If he can use a knife after recovery, please carve a book seal. Unexpectedly, however, I didn't see the old man this time, and I won't have another chance in the future.
? Back in Hefei, about a month later, I received a package from a young author in Shanghai. When I opened the parcel, a Qingtian stone seal appeared in front of my eyes. The words "Tang Yue's Collection of Books" are clearly engraved on the printing surface, and the border paragraphs clearly record the time and the person in charge of printing: "Comrade Tang Yue is gentle and gentle, and Jiazi is engraved in the first month, and he is eighty years old." There is also a short message in the parcel saying that the old man Anchi died on the 14th day of the first month. I have a letter in my right hand and a seal in my left hand, and I am in tears. Come to think of it, the Spring Festival that year was the second day of the first month. When the old man was seriously ill, he insisted on going home for the holidays and spent the last few days of his life, and my book seal should have been engraved in these days.
?
? With this seal, I pay more attention to the career and achievements of the elderly in An Zhi. The old man inherited his family studies in his early years. At the beginning of seal cutting, I studied China seal cutting under Jiaxing Tao Tiruo and master Zhao Shuru. Then, after introduction, I got to know the grandson of Wu Dacheng, who has a rich collection of books, and borrowed Wang Guan's Baoyinzhai Seal from the Wu family's old collection to study it with great concentration, and gradually got a knife method. After that, I saw Ge Shuzheng's three generations of ivory rhinoceros horn prints in Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties in Pinghu, and began to focus on Yuan Zhuwen, an old and steady worker, until it was completed, and was praised by Naishi as "the first person in modern Yuan and Zhu Wen". I feel a little sorry to learn this, because the words "Tang Yue Collection" on the seal are all white words instead of Yuan Zhuwen. Later, I enjoyed the old people's prints in An Zhi Jingshe Yincun and An Zhi Jingshe Yindan. When I saw many white seals, I knew that his Yuan Zhuwen was very famous because it was carved into a "unique style in the world", not because he was not good at other styles such as all-white and ancient seals. I even found that most of the name stamps and seals with names are full of spectacular and heroic brushstrokes, which may contain a layer of respect and admiration. The old man carved many seals for Wu Hufan, Zhang Daqian, Xinyu Pu and other friends, mostly all white; Another example is Xiangtan's seal, Shen Junru's seal, Shen's seal, Zhang's seal, and Bei Hong's seal, all of which are full of white masterpieces, with a complete layout and only one red line left.
?
? Although he was named as "the first person in modern Yuan and Zhu Wen", his life was not smooth sailing, and he even went through hardships. He was often in adversity, and many experiences were embarrassing. In the late 1950s, the old people were labeled as "Rightists" and sent to Anhui for reeducation through labor. They went to Bengbu first, and then to Huainan. For three and a half years, they endured bitter food and unbearable fatigue.
? /kloc-in the winter of 0/958, Anchi arrived in Bengbu by train with the reeducation-through-labor team and stayed in the shelter that night. It rained heavily that day and the receiver was not prepared. The equipment in the room is extremely simple and the order is particularly chaotic. When eating, someone brought in a big bucket of sweet potato soup. There are not many sweet potatoes, all of which are sweet potato seedlings and soup. After a day's train ride, everyone is already hungry, and there is still strength to squeeze to the front. The old man has little strength and can only drink soup. Fortunately, Sheng Xuanhuai's grandson Zhuang Yuanduan is also a "Rightist" among his peers. He is young and tall. He caught some sweet potatoes and gave the old man two pieces. After more than 20 years, the old man can't forget it. When he met Zhuang Yuanduan in Shanghai, he mentioned the old story again: "I was hungry at that time, but for your sweet potato, it is hard to say whether I could survive that night."
? A few days later, the old man in Anchi was assigned to work in a coking plant in Huainan. After a long time, the management is a bit loose. During working in the factory, the old man used his spare time to carve private seals for others. He charges a dime a word, which is equivalent to a street engraver. He always engraves more than 2000 yuan. 1960, the old man accepted a student 12 years old named Dong Pin. Despite the embarrassing position and difficult situation, the old man is meticulous in teaching students and never perfunctory in approving and printing. Just a few words contain a profound and refined concept of managing printing. Seeing the problem of students' lettering, the old man always hits the nail on the head and has a rude attitude. For example, when he looked at Zhang Jue's seal, he said, "This seal is close to the tooth marks carved by Yuan people, and the brushwork is too light." When he looked at the Italian seal, he said, "The strokes here are very bloated, so pay attention to them in the future." Seeing that the students carved a good seal, the old man was overjoyed and encouraged For example, the signs of Zhou Qing and Chen Qing are full of praise and encouragement: "These two seals are deep in China and India, and Gu Zhuo is powerful and gratifying. In the future, I will devote myself to this road. I can go to Cheng and Bajuantang to overlook Zhejiang and Anhui and encourage them to make great achievements. These two seals should be preserved and cannot be worn off. " ?
?
? In the 1990s, I read the serial articles of An Zhi's old people in Vientiane magazine for many years, telling the anecdotes of Shanghai cultural celebrities during the Republic of China. The written article is mixed with literary and vernacular, handy and vivid. Around 20 10, Sun Junhui, the grandson of the old man, compiled published and several unpublished articles of the same kind into a book "Memories of Anzhi Characters", which was published by Shanghai Painting and Calligraphy Publishing House, with a very wide influence and was highly sought after by readers. Two years later, I learned the ins and outs of these chapters from some materials, and my heart churned with thousands of flavors, and I was speechless for a long time. It turned out that the old man returned to Shanghai from Anhui, and soon suffered the "Cultural Revolution". He was once again hit and was put in the "bullpen". In the cowshed, the old man recalled many little-known past events and recorded them in small print on old cardboard or even cigarette cases. Afraid that his future was numbered, he entrusted the written words to Mr. Shi Zhecun, a difficult friend in the cowshed, and promised to help publish them in the future. Shi Zhecun knows the weight of the manuscript in his hand and takes good care of it. Later, he handed it to Mr. Lu Hao, who was preparing to start Vientiane magazine, through Mr. Zhou Shao. Lu Hao got the manuscript with few words, no paragraphs, no punctuation marks, which took a lot of effort to sort out and did a great job. It was serialized in the journal until it was recommended for publication.
? Thinking of this, I rubbed the seal in my hand and felt the coolness and sadness brought by the drizzle in late spring outside the window. This situation is in line with the poem that the old man once engraved on the leisure chapter: Spring sorrow cannot disappear like snow. This poem comes from Ni Zan's Ci of Zhi Zhu in Yuan Dynasty. Ni Zan is famous for his thin paintings, windy and rainy, cold and bleak, and haunts that kind of untimely and independent sadness. The old man entered the seal with poetry, which seemed to combine his own life experience and join his own state of mind. As an old man, he is famous in the history of seal cutting in China, but he has suffered so many twists and turns and misfortunes. In the face of twists and turns and misfortunes, the old man never complains, never sinks, never puts down his meat cleaver and never dies. And others, shouldn't they do something to prevent such misfortune from happening again!
The first five days of the long summer in 2022