The legendary life of Shao Zhongjie

Seeing Shao Lao, there are three unexpected things. First, Mr. Wang is 83 years old, but his back is not hunched, his hair is young and his spirit is tough; Secondly, Mr. Wang is good at painting peony, which is very famous in China, but approachable and amiable; Thirdly, Mr. Wang has experienced the ups and downs of life, but he is still full of enthusiasm and love for the motherland, the people and life.

An accomplished person, such as Shao Lao, whose peony paintings have tens of thousands of obsessed "fans", must have extraordinary life experience and extraordinary strong will. In this way, he can capture the most beautiful and splendid spring scenery in the world, and let the fleeting youth freeze on his paper for eternity. 1926 In April, Shao Zhongjie was born in a peasant family in Zhangguodian Village, Xia County, Shanxi Province. The Shaw family, who have been studying for a long time, encountered unprecedented difficulties in the years of war. At the age of 3, Shao Zhongjie lost his mother. That is a clever rural woman. Paper cutting and embroidery are very famous in the village. Shao Zhongjie, who lost his mother, became a cowherd at an early age. The lack of food and clothing on the cow's back makes Shao Zhongjie full of yearning for a happy life. When he grows up, he is eager to make a career. He also lives in a quadrangle like his uncle's family (a scholar) and can be respected.

/kloc-at the age of 0/0, Shao Zhongjie attended Zhongtiaoshan Refugee Children's Rehabilitation Institute hosted by Soong Ching Ling. Gifted Xiao Zhongjie walked into the school gate, picked up his beloved pen, walked all the way to the middle school and was admitted to Yuncheng Normal University. Yuncheng Normal School was the highest institution of learning in Yuncheng at that time, which provided students with comprehensive education in sound, physical education and beauty, with the aim of cultivating enlightenment teachers for children in the whole region. At that time, famous painters such as Nan Renfu in Hedong gave Shao Zhongjie the best enlightenment, which made him take a steady step on the road of painting and laid a good foundation in flower-and-bird painting. Shao Zhongjie made his mark in Yuncheng Normal School because of his excellent painting skills. 1946, because of Superman's painting skills, he undertook a task of the government-painting a huge portrait of the leader of the Kuomintang on the bell tower in the downtown area of Yuncheng. It coincided with the first cooperation between China and the United States. Shao Zhongjie, a young student, picked up a paintbrush in desperation and successfully completed the task assigned by the government to the school. Since then, it has become a blockbuster and embarked on the road of art.

Shao Zhongjie, who is determined to become a painter, has never thought about his relationship with politics. But after that, because he could draw, he was transferred to Xi 'an by the national army and became a captain officer of the Kuomintang. Shao Zhongjie, who is 80 meters tall/kloc-0, put on a handsome officer's uniform, but he never expected it. Because of this history, he has worked hard for decades.

Yuncheng Liberation 1947, New China Established 1949. Shao Zhongjie took off his military uniform and returned to the field to become an ordinary farmer in Hanzhong, Shaanxi. However, history is destined to let Shao Zhongjie write a pen. Shortly thereafter, the party and the government discovered Shao Zhongjie's superb painting ability and prepared to transfer him to the army as a propaganda cadre. Shao Zhongjie is duty-bound to follow our army south to Sichuan. For various reasons, he didn't go to the army, but became an art teacher in Chengdu No.2 Middle School. After graduating from normal school and serving the education of the party and the people, Shao Zhongjie felt unprecedented calm and satisfaction. He is determined to devote himself to the education in New China. During his decades in Chengdu No.2 Middle School, Shao Zhongjie trained many accomplished painters, such as Zhang Youju. He himself was hired as an honorary professor for life by Beijing Normal University Experimental Middle School (formerly Chengdu No.2 Middle School). The storm came for no reason. Almost overnight, Shao Zhongjie, a tall, enthusiastic and creative art teacher, became a counter-revolutionary in history and a ghost. He worked hard in class while listening to the students' abuse. While walking on the playground, suddenly a student rushed up and kicked him. At the interrogators' meeting, former colleagues suddenly became enemies and insulted Shao Zhongjie at the top of their lungs. When many people who were criticized could not bear the insult and chose to commit suicide, Shao Zhongjie chose to face it calmly. He thinks that he may have been on the wrong team for irresistible reasons in the past, but he is just a painter and has never harmed the people. He was never sentenced to death. He believes that the government believes that the party will give him justice, he can't commit suicide, he has to live well.

At the question meeting, the revolutionary teenager asked him to bow, and he bowed his head and asked him to review. He reviewed. He accepted criticism with the most modest and sincere attitude, and carried out self-reflection and transformation from the depths of his soul. He was "invited" into the most shabby house where the school piled up cleaning tools, and he began to live as a cleaner day after day. However, he didn't put down his brush. He has been far away from his hometown, and he still hopes to return to his hometown one day. He won't break down. In the future, he will live up to his hometown elders and realize his dream of being a painter.

During the day, I listened to the so-called accusations full of aggression at the criticism meeting, but I wholeheartedly conceived my own paintings. He thought that the political situation was unstoppable and the interrogators obeyed orders. In order to complete a political task, it is a play! I play the victim and others play the critic. Everyone is just playing their part.

With this calm, in the evening, Shao Zhongjie picked up his beloved brush, splashed ink on the paper, and sprinkled the pictures conceived during the day. He writes about life, mood and ambition with a brush.

To Shao Zhongjie's delight, many times, Shao Zhongjie was often dragged to draw pictures because he wanted to draw red posters of Wan Li mountains and rivers, write big slogans and draw a portrait of a great man, so he escaped a series of criticism meetings. His colleagues often tell him enviously, hoping that he can find a job for his colleagues even when painting, so as to stay away from criticism.

Because of this glorious job, Shao Zhongjie is full of gratitude for the brush in his hand. When he is standing on the ground or drawing on a ladder, he often stands for hours at a time. Over time, he suffered from severe hemorrhoids. However, Shao Zhongjie is still grateful for painting. In the dead of night, he quietly painted in the most broken house in the school. He thought, painting saved my life, and painting is my life.

A person, when he regards his career as his life, will certainly climb to the top of his career. Shao Zhongjie was hooked up like this. Now, when the national leaders and people give him too much applause and flowers, he once again says from the heart: "Painting makes me reborn." Shao Zhongjie loves the education of the motherland and the painting art of the motherland. He often says that he is a teacher first, and a teacher is his first occupation. Educate students to learn from each other, teach them art and get inspiration from them.

He has been fascinated by painting. On the streets of Chengdu, grandma keeps a fat hen. When she passed by, she saw the leisure and pride of the hen who was foraging, and her heart was pounding. He focused on flower-and-bird painting and watched quietly. When he came back, he painted it again and again. When you are not satisfied with the painting, you will go to see grandma's chicken. Time and time again, the old woman became suspicious: did this tall man steal his own chicken secretly?

On the bus, he also likes to observe. He likes to find beauty in life and get inspiration. On one occasion, he stared at a girl with a good face, thinking wildly, and was almost regarded as a hooligan and got a good beating.

No, crazy people can't survive. It is in this ecstasy that Shao Zhongjie's painting skills are getting better and better.

In flower-and-bird paintings, he likes peony best, its gorgeous colors, its experience of wind, frost, rain and snow, and the most beautiful spring scenery to people's hearts. He has been through a lot. Because he was labeled as a historical counter-revolutionary, he broke up with his wife, changed his child's surname and drew a line with him. When the wind and rain stopped and his wife and children returned to him, his heart was filled with gratitude. He is grateful to his motherland, party and people. He has accumulated decades of life experience and life, and turned the peony he saw in Luoyang and Heze into colorful flowers, condensed in his pen and painted for the motherland and the people. He wants to paint the wealth and beauty of peony, and he wants to bring the most beautiful spring scenery to the world.

He said that under the correct leadership of the party and the government, in today's era, social harmony, national rejuvenation and economic prosperity, only the elegance and wealth of peony can express the myriad weather of the motherland. So the peony he painted is a big red and purple.

Despite the ups and downs, Shao Zhongjie is full of confidence in life. He doesn't have a pure scholar's passive seclusion thought. He doesn't want to describe the dull leaves and flowers, but he likes the gorgeous peony. The peony he painted is full of vitality, which makes people look refreshed and passionate.

The Shao Zhong Peony Festival, full of prosperous times, deeply touched many painting fans. They affectionately call the festival Shao Peony. Whenever a picture of a festival appears in front of people, people can see that it is Shao Peony without looking at the signature. Only Shao Peony has this momentum and this scene.

Mr Shao Zhongjie believed in Comrade Mao Zedong's speech at Yan 'an Forum on Literature and Art: Literature and art should prosper and serve the broad masses of people. He often said that pen and ink should keep pace with the times, keep pace with the times, draw the elegance of the times with a brush, and write the charm of modern people's spiritual world.

Shao Zhongjie doesn't agree that strangeness is beauty, and that people can't understand novelty. He advocates learning from tradition rather than sticking to the rules, keeping pace with the times and leading the aesthetic value and interest of mainstream people.

That year, his peony exhibition was held in China Art Museum, and the participants were shoulder to shoulder, with unprecedented pomp. After seeing Shao Lao's art exhibition, a vice president of the Palace Museum held his hand tightly and said excitedly, "Thank you, you won the spirit for our traditional flower and bird painter!" " There is no end to learning and art, and now 83-year-old Shao Lao is still so modest and eager to learn. He often told students and children that Mr. Weng Tonghe, the teacher of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty, was a great scholar of the Qing Dynasty. However, he is modest and eager to learn. In his later years, he still insisted on writing, taking word classes every day like a primary school student, writing, imitating and copying, constantly learning and striving for progress. Like Mr. Weng Tonghe, I am willing to ask myself as a primary school student, starting from scratch every day, taking painting classes every day and making progress every day. Now, every morning at 5: 30, Shao Lao and his wife get up on time, go out to exercise at 6: 00, and after breakfast, they start a day of painting classes, look at picture books and learn to draw.

Shao Lao said that he is now 83 years old and it is the best time to draw. Being an artist for more than 60 years, people and books are always at their best. He wants to start a new painting journey from now on and return to the motherland, society and hometown with greater enthusiasm.

Previously, Mr. Shao Zhongjie donated more than 60 peony paintings to Sima Wengong Temple in his hometown and established Shao Zhongjie Art Museum. He also donated dozens of peony paintings to build Zhangguodian Zhongjie Primary School in Xia County for his hometown. During the Wenchuan earthquake, 82-year-old Shao Lao donated 12 fine peony paintings at one time. Among the old artists in Sichuan, he donated the most paintings.

"I am just an ordinary person, thanks to the motherland, thanks to the times, thanks to history, thanks to the bumpy fate. It is these that have made me who I am today. I am willing to do my best to bring more beauty to this world and to the people in my hometown who gave birth to me and raised me. " Shao Lao said.

The 83-year-old artist's face is full of innocence and enthusiasm, just like the colorful red peony he painted.