Dialogue with Du Fu across time and space to inherit the spirit of poetry
Shu Merry Characters - Caotang Du Fu" after viewing.
Xu Xiping. The famous scholar Mr. Feng Zhi wrote in "The Biography of Du Fu": "When people mention Du Fu, they can ignore Du Fu's place of birth and death, but they can't forget the thatched cottage in Chengdu. "Comrade ***, the chief designer of reform and opening up, also said: If you don't go to Du Fu's thatched cottage, you don't have to Chengdu. This shows the special close relationship between Du Fu and Chengdu. The simple thatched hut has become a sacred place in the history of Chinese literature. For thousands of years, the people of Chengdu have a special complex for poetry and saints, and the old, young, women and children can have heart-to-heart exchanges in Chengdu. At the same time, there will be invisible pressure to tell Du Fu in Chengdu.
Chengdu is located in the western Sichuan Plain, the land of abundance, with unique natural resources, and at the same time has the characteristics of harmonious and inclusive Bashu culture. Since ancient times, celebrities from all over the world have entered Shu, adding infinite and rich cultural resources to the city. In recent years, in the context of the lively debut of various new and integrated films, literary documentaries have also been quite popular, and have been called important cultural events with vane significance in recent years. In order to promote the excellent traditional culture, Chengdu Radio and Television Station plans to shoot a large-scale series of humanistic TV documentaries, reflecting the special relationship between historical and cultural celebrities and Chengdu. When the film started filming in 2022, it was the 1310th anniversary of the birth of the poet Du Fu, and the film crew filmed for several months, and after several months of hard work, it was finally completed and grandly launched in the near future, offering a belated gift for Du Fu's 1310th birthday.
As mentioned above, as a representative of the excellent traditional Chinese culture, Du Fu's spirit is broad and profound, and Du Fu's research is known as "Du Poetics". In recent years, various media and works of art related to Du Fu's poetry, biography, drama, song and dance, television and other media and works of art have emerged in an endless stream at home and abroad. With a serious attitude, the film crew attached great importance to it, carefully organized, researched, and completed the shooting, and finally presented the audience with a novel artistic masterpiece showing the relationship between Du Fu and Bashu culture, and handed over a more satisfactory answer. After viewing, it is eye-catching, intoxicating and beneficial.
In order to shoot a good work, Chengdu Radio and Television Station has made many preparations, in addition to the backbone of the station's business, it has invited experienced provincial radio and television stations and professional directors in Beijing to join in and cooperate, forming a strong shooting team to lay a solid foundation for the completion of high-quality products. Before filming, the main creative staff of the film crew studied carefully and studied deeply in various forms such as reading Du Fu's relevant books and materials, listening to special lectures by experts and scholars in Du Fu's research, and tried their best to have a comprehensive grasp and understanding of Du Fu's life, cultural essence and close relationship with Chengdu Bashu. At the same time, making full use of the resource advantages of Du Fu's research in universities and academia in Chengdu, we have held script seminars for many times, invited relevant scholars from the Sichuan Du Fu Research Society to review the shooting script, put forward suggestions for revision, grasp the idea and the perspective of trade-offs, and finally establish the shooting direction, focusing on the relationship between Du Fu and Chengdu, and reflecting the nostalgia of Chengdu people for the poet saint more than 1,000 years later in a modern image way, so that everyone can better understand him, talk to him across time and space, and the younger generation can understand and inherit the spirit of Du Fu. The completion of the material and the editing stage of the film are also repeated polishing, careful consideration of words, attention to details, and striving for perfection, which is also the interpretation of Du Fu's meticulous craftsmanship spirit of excellence.
The documentary is divided into two episodes, namely "Grass Hall into a Dream" and "Mountains and Rivers for the Record", the first part starts from the reproduction of Du Fu's first entry into Chengdu, and uses "Chengdu Mansion" to express the feelings of an old man who has lived in the Central Plains for a long time and has suffered from sorrow, highlighting the comfort of Chengdu's economic, cultural and natural characteristics to Du Fu's soul at that time, "Since ancient times, there has been a detention trip, why should I be sad", find a livable place in the chaos, and then focus on the process of getting funding from relatives and friends and building a thatched hut, reflecting his joy of finally having a place to live. Interspersed with many poems, it reflects the details of Du Fu's daily life on the bank of the Caotang Huanhua River, the spring rain in Xiling, the chess game fishing, the wild old vermilion and cherry blossoms, the neighborhood relationship, and the experience of the natural phenology of the land of abundance and the comfort and leisure of ordinary people. Bashu Life expands its horizons, enriches its creative content, transforms its style, and becomes more and more mature. The next episode is composed by paying homage to the poems of "Shu Xiang" of Wuhou Temple, and singing the first fastest poem in his life "Wen Guanjun Collects Henan and Hebei" between Zilang in northern Sichuan, as well as "Ascending" and other works of wandering in Kuizhou, reflecting Du Fu's consistent feelings of family and country outside of Chengdu's peaceful residence, and the love of mountains and rivers is also an indispensable aspect of Caotang's life. This relatively objective and true record and reproduction of Du Fu's Bashu years, especially the life situation of the thatched cottage, not only shows the deep and sincere feelings of the poet in the minds of the Chinese people in the past dynasties, but also reflects and highlights Du Fu's diverse life interests and ideological characters through the silhouette of Du Fu's life in Chengdu and the Bashu region, and the emotional exchanges that are closely related to ordinary people, the influence of the natural humanities and folk customs of the Bashu mountains and rivers on Du Fu's ideological life and poetry creation, and restores a flesh-and-blood, affectionate and sexually poetic, as Mr. Lu Xun said, " Du Fu doesn't seem to be an ancient, as if he is still alive in our pile today. "The documentary has made valuable attempts and explorations in this regard, striving to let contemporary people understand and get close to Du Fu and show his eternal value.
The film crew followed Du Fu's journey into Shu, according to the seasons described in Du Fu's life and poems, from Jianmen to Kuimen, from winter to spring, to shoot the landscapes and Chengdu customs in Du's poems. From Jincheng in the Tang Dynasty as a place to live in peace after the war, to the bustling fashion of contemporary Chengdu, the multicultural city of comfort has all been intercepted and entered, and the scene of the 14th Caotang People's Day Tour intangible cultural heritage activities in 2023 was specially filmed on the spot. The scenery is beautiful and lively, which is secretly in line with the expectations of the poet and saint to shelter the world and be harmonious and happy.
At the same time, relevant people from all walks of life were invited to be interviewed on camera, covering a wide range of aspects, which can be called a highlight of the film. Among them, there are many famous scholars who have made outstanding achievements in Du Fu research at home and abroad inside and outside the province, such as Professor Zhang Zhilie and Qi Hehui of Sichuan Du Fu Society, Professor Xu Xiping of Sichuan Du Fu Research Center, Mr. Zhou Weiyang, Director Liu Hong and former Director of Du Fu Caotang Museum, Professor Wang Hong of Sichuan University, experts from outside the province such as President Liu Minghua of China Du Fu Society, Professor Meng Man of ** Minzu University, Professor Gu Shuguang of Chinese People's University, Professor Zha Pingqiu of Fudan University, and famous writers. Mr. Ji Di Maga, vice chairman of the Chinese Writers Association, overseas parties such as Mr. Masahiro Shimada, president of the Du Fu Society of Japan, Professor Yuwen Soan, a famous American sinologist, Mr. Lee Kwang-ho, consul general of the Republic of Korea in Chengdu, etc., as well as Mr. Jiang Daiming, the son of Mr. Jiang Zhaohe, a famous painter who painted the portrait of Du Fu, and the famous sculptor Qian Shaowu** Mr. Zhu Cheng, Zhou Lichun, the provincial intangible cultural heritage inheritor who repaired the thatched hut, the photographer Jia Nan, who took the panoramic view of the city in the park under the snow mountain, and the students of the thatched cottage cottage primary school, either interpreted the artistic conception of Du Fu's poems, or made a professional introduction to the historical background and geographical environment, or collectively recited Du Fu's classic poems, which were rigorous and relaxed, lively, and easy to understand, reflecting the latest achievements in the research and popularization of contemporary Du Fu's poetry, and helping to grasp and accurately understand Du Fu's poetry and his times.
In addition to the live shooting, the documentary also uses actors to restore the scene in some iconic locations, increasing the appreciation and interest of the film, combining virtual and real, jumping ancient and modern, allowing the audience to switch between the modern snow mountain park city and the ancient pastoral cottage where Du Fu lives, narrowing the distance with the poet in the contrast of strange and familiar environments, and increasing the audience's understanding of the content and spirit of Du Fu's poetry in a friendly atmosphere. For example, in the opening scene, in the snowstorm, Du Fu's family helps the old and the young, the sword gate is closed, the poet looks back, looks north at the Central Plains, and his worried eyes seem to freeze the psychology of the uncertain future when he enters Shu on the screen, which is shocking and has become the starting point of a new life. Many similar pictures in the film have similar finishing touches, silent is better than sound taste, such as a stream boating, let people experience the leisure and elegance of Shuzhong Tour, Kuixia cane, it brings people into the artistic conception of "every Beidou Wangjinghua", its shape is beautiful and timeless, or heavy and sad, which is very impressive and produces a good artistic effect. The whole film is completed in one go, the atmosphere is magnificent and there is no lack of touching details, with strong attraction and appeal, so that people can't help but further enhance cultural self-confidence in the process of watching, naturally increase the understanding of Du Fu and Chengdu, love this city with heritage and temperature more, and also deeply appreciate Mr. Wen Yiduo's classic quotes: Du Fu - the most solemn, the most magnificent, and the most permanent brilliance in four thousand years of culture.
*: Chinese Academy of Poetry.
Author: Xu Xiping (Chief Expert of Sichuan Du Fu Research Center, Professor of School of Chinese Chinese and Literature, Southwest University for Nationalities).