Chapter 382: Top support during the honeymoon period between China and the United States
How much fun I had walking last night, and how soundly I slept this morning.
A few months later, Jiang Shan unexpectedly lived in the same house with Comrade Huang Hua again.
They slept until about three, four or five o'clock in the morning before the two of them woke up in a daze.
"What time is it, Brother Hua?" Jiang Shan asked while grabbing his watch.
"It's 11 o'clock," Huang Hua sat up and said, "Hurry up Jiangshan, we have a lot of work today."
Around two o'clock in the afternoon,
After Jiang Shan and Wang Fulin submitted their advertisements to the organizers of the New York Advertising Festival, the group rushed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York without stopping.
High platform and wide door, Roman columns reaching the sky, covering an area of 120,000 square meters...
This building, rich in ancient Roman style, is a behemoth no matter from which angle you look at it.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is backed by Central Park on Fifth Avenue. Originally, I just wanted to take a quiet and quiet route.
It's a pity that the collection piled up in a room did not give it this opportunity to hide in peace.
As soon as I stepped onto the steps of the museum, several comrades didn’t wait to take a closer look.
The two gay men with oriental faces next to the gate had begun to look at them carefully.
Then, a comrade wearing a black suit and black-rimmed glasses asked tentatively:
"Excuse me, are you the comrades sent by China to film the documentary of the 'Mingxuan' exhibition hall?"
Jiang Shan, who had just taken out his camera, turned to look at the other party: "Yes, we are the crew of Mingxuan Documentary. Who are you?"
"Welcome," the other party immediately laughed after hearing this reply: "My surname is Fang, and I am the head of the Asian Department of the Metropolitan Museum of Art."
"So you are Comrade Fang Wen,"
Wang Fulin and Jiang Shan greeted him together: "Are we not late?"
Fang Wen, who hadn't heard such polite words for a long time, felt particularly cordial.
Under his personal reception, the group of seven people, without taking any photos, walked directly into the Metropolitan Museum.
The tall dome hall and the spacious exhibition hall layout made several comrades unable to take their eyes away as soon as they entered the door.
Among them, Huang Yongyu and Wang Shixiang's performances are the most outstanding.
Seeing this, Director Fang, who was about 50 years old, decided to seek the opinion of the film crew first: "Excuse me, should we go to the Mingxuan exhibition hall first, or should we go to other exhibition halls first?"
Jiang Shan looked at Wang Fulin: "What do you think, Director Wang?"
Wang Fulin said decisively: "Of course, let's finish the work first."
"Okay," Fang Wen pointed towards the second floor: "Everyone, please come with me."
Following Director Fang, a group of visitors from China climbed the stairs to the second floor.
As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw a scene that was both familiar and unfamiliar.
The four-sided pagoda in the Northern Qi Dynasty, the lamp-burning Buddha statue in the Northern Wei Dynasty... the standing statue of Guanyin that is more than 4 meters high.
Although they had agreed to go to "Mingxuan" first, Jiang Shan still accompanied Huang Yongyu and Wang Shixiang to a giant mural.
The mural, which is about 5 meters high and 15 meters long, almost takes up one wall of the exhibition hall.
There are three pharmacists sitting in the middle, as well as a Yuan Dynasty mural of a group of destined people.
Although it has shown signs of aging, the lines and colors of the painting still look extremely gorgeous.
"The Pharmacist's Sutra Changes Diagram,"
Without looking at the notes, Huang Yongyu directly reported the name of the painting: "Xiao Jiang, have you seen this painting?"
Although he has seen it many times, Jiang Shan still feels that he has not seen enough: "No!"
Huang Yongyu looked up at the mural: "You haven't even seen the album?"
"No," Jiang Shan said, "No, have you seen it?"
"By chance," Huang Yongyu said, "I saw it in a magazine. I was still living in Xiangjiang at that time."
Jiang Shan turned to look at Yu Sigui: "Have you seen this painting?"
Yu Sigui, who was still in shock, slowly shook his head: "How dare I see something you haven't seen before!"
"whispering sound!"
Jiang Shan smiled at the corner of his mouth. Seeing Yu Sigui raising his chin and looking at it silly, he suddenly felt a little itchy.
"It's not surprising that you haven't seen this mural before,"
At this time, Director Fang came over with others: "Because it was brought to the United States as early as 1929."
"1929?" Wang Fulin calculated: "The period of warlords' melee?"
"It is said to be so,"
Director Fang, an archaeologist, introduced: "The mural "The Changes of the King of Medicine" was originally a mural in the main hall of Guangsheng Temple in Shanxi.
Guangsheng Temple is one of the earliest temples established in China and has existed since the Eastern Han Dynasty..."
In 1929, in order to repair the wall, the temple collapsed and the temple was in dilapidated condition.
Guangsheng Temple sold this mural painted in the Yuan Dynasty to an American who came to buy it for 1,600 silver dollars.
Then, the giant murals that were shoveled down in multiple pieces passed into the hands of Lu Qinzhai, a cultural relic dealer.
Under the promotion of this second-rate dealer, murals such as "The Classic of Medicine King" and "Six Horses of Zhaoling" were sent to museums in the United States one by one.
After taking a few photos in front of the mural of "Yao Wang Jing Bian", Jiang Shan and his party finally arrived at the legendary "Mingxuan" garden exhibition hall.
After passing through the Moon Gate with two stone lions, the entire space of Mingxuan Exhibition Hall appears in front of everyone.
"Gong Chen,"
As soon as Fang Wen entered the door, he shouted: "Our guests are here."
"Comrades from the film crew are here?"
At this time, an old man in his sixties came over and said, "Welcome, welcome."
Chen Congzhou is a leading garden architect and master of garden aesthetics in China.
Four years ago, when the Metropolitan Museum was preparing to build an exhibition hall to display Ming Dynasty furniture.
The famous designer Ieoh Ming Pei recommended Chen Congzhou to Fang Wen without saying a word.
“At that time, the design above the Egyptian Hall on the first floor was entirely hollow,”
After Jiang Shan and Zhang Lu set up the camera, Director Fang first introduced:
“Then the museum decided to build a second floor above the Egyptian Hall to serve as a Chinese garden exhibition booth.
After choosing the location of the exhibition hall, the architectural style of the exhibition hall becomes a big issue.
After searching all over the courtyards in Suzhou and Hangzhou, Chen Gong and I agreed that the Dian Chunyan in Suzhou City is a very good example..."
Clear spring, rockery, half pavilion, study room...
In the Mingxuan exhibition hall, where the renovation is nearing completion, 27 craftsmen from China are completing the final touches.
Following the introductions of Fang Wen and Chen Congzhou, Jiang Shan followed along with the camera.
When the camera was focused on each craftsman, many comrades smiled and waved to the camera.
“National leaders are very supportive of the New York museum project,”
Chen walked around and said: "Every brick and wood in Mingxuan Hall is from China.
The 50 nanmu beams and columns here were all specially harvested in 1979.
At that time, after being cut down in the forests of Sichuan, they were built into rafts and floated directly from the Yangtze River to Suzhou.
In order to bake bricks and tiles for the exhibition hall, Suzhou also reused the imperial kiln in Lu Tomb..."
Wang Shixiang paused: "Royal kiln in Lu Tomb? Royal kiln in the Forbidden City?"
"Yes, it's the imperial kiln in the Forbidden City,"
Chen Congzhou nodded: "According to the old rules, every brick here is stamped with the mark of 'newly made by Wu Wu Suzhou Lu Tomb Royal Kiln'."
Hearing this, Wang Shixiang turned around and looked at Jiang Shan: "This is really not an ordinary support."
Jiang Shan just smiled and said nothing. Many matters during the honeymoon between China and the United States were not in line.
"Not just domestically,"
Fang Wen took out a stack of photos at this meeting: "American leaders also attach great importance to this Sino-US art cooperation..."
After taking the photo, several comrades in the film crew looked at it together.
"This one is the groundbreaking ceremony presided over by the mayor of New York. The following picture is the scene of workers from China and the United States exchanging safety helmets at the groundbreaking ceremony,"
Director Fang introduced them one by one from the side: "There is also this photo of former President Nixon visiting the museum in person to visit Suzhou craftsmen..."
"Can you give us a copy of these photos?"
As soon as Jiang Shan got the stack of photos, he was not ready to let go: "I plan to put them together in the documentary."
"Of course," Director Fang said with a smile, "These photos were originally prepared for you."
That's good. Jiang Shan smiled and handed the photo to Yu Sigui behind him.
"Excuse me,"
The next second, Chen Congzhou, who had been hesitating, couldn't help it anymore: "Are you Mr. Huang Yongyu?"
"It's right down there,"
Huang Yongyu, who had long been offended by the other party, asked: "Do you know me?"
"oops,"
Chen Congyi heard this on Monday and quickly held Huang Yongyu's hand: "I looked familiar at first, but I didn't expect it was really you."
Seeing the excited and confused Huang Yongyu, he could only try to remember.
But before he could think more, Fang Wen also came over to say hello: "So you are Mr. Huang Yongyu. Nice to meet you."
Then, they turned their attention to Wang Shixiang: "Who are you?"
"Don't you know them?"
In order to build momentum for his friend, Huang Yongyu introduced him ceremoniously: "Wang Shi, Xiang, a well-known domestic cultural relics expert, connoisseur of cultural relics, organizer and compiler of lacquerware techniques, and commissioner of the Institute of Ancient Architecture!"
"Wang Shixiang?"
Upon hearing the other party's introduction, Fang Wen almost jumped up: "Wang Shixiang from the Institute of Cultural Relics of the Forbidden City?"
"A retired employee," Wang Shixiang said with a calm expression, "it's not worth mentioning!"
Fang Wen confirmed again: "Are you really Mr. Wang Shixiang?"
Wang Shixiang nodded.
Seeing the other party's excited expression, not only Wang Shixiang himself, but also Jiang Shan beside him stopped what he was doing.
Fang Wen held Wang Shixiang's hand tightly: "I really didn't expect that China actually arranged two super experts for the film crew."
Huang Yongyu and Wang Shixiang looked at each other, and they didn't know when they were promoted.
"Mr. Wang, you're here just in time," Fang Wen asked, "Can you help our library look at something?"
Wang Shixiang: "Antique?"
"You could also say that,"
After speaking, Fang Wen pointed in one direction: "Please follow me."
