Some people spend their lives pursuing worldly success, but this desire is often difficult to achieve. However, Song Peilun, an 82-year-old veteran artist in Guizhou, has achieved success in the eyes of the world with a relaxed attitude, and his story is like a mountain legend. This article is excerpted from the official ** (Red Star News, released on July 7, 2020), which has been polished and added to make it more vivid.
Find your passion and never give up.
Song Peilun was born in Meitan, Guizhou Province in 1940, his family was not wealthy, and his parents were farmers. In the environment where he grew up, he was deeply attracted by the influence of the local "Yoro culture", especially the legend of Yoro Country. He often asks his elders for stories about the country of Yoro, and every time he listens to it, he is full of interest and never gets bored.
Although the adults in the village are busy with farm work, the children are curious about the stone buildings known as "treasures", especially those that are said to be the remains of Yoro Province, which adds to the mystery of Yoro Province. For Song Peilun, these are opportunities for exploration. Whenever he finds a strange stone, he takes it home like he has picked up a treasure.
Although the mother thought that these things were useless, she never discouraged her son's enthusiasm, because she knew that these things meant a lot to him. Day after day, Song Peilun's love for these things only grows, and he spends his days exploring the mountains and the mysterious ancient castle.
And during the festival, the village will perform "Wu opera", which becomes another specialty. The villagers sang and danced in the village wearing mysterious masks, which made Song Peilun deeply interested in the story behind the masks. These colourful, strangely shaped masks must have a fascinating story behind them.
Song Peilun's imagination was greatly stimulated, and he began to experiment with tools and clay to make masks. Although it is much simpler than the mask on the festival, Song Peilun still feels satisfied when he looks at his results. He thought to himself what a wonderful thing it would be if he could reproduce the country of Yoro like these masks.
With the support of his family, Song Peilun lives a simple and happy life, and they never interfere with each other's interests and hobbies, which makes everyone feel at ease. Song Peilun constantly experimented with various art forms, including painting, sculpture and pottery, and fused them together to create his own one-of-a-kind work.
Stick to your dreams and don't fear hardships.
Song Peilun has an extraordinary talent for art, and he always focuses on what he loves. In 1986, he won several awards for his sculpture "Mask Face", which drew attention to his sculptural talent. A university was eager to hire him to teach, so he began a steady and decent job. However, despite the fact that his colleagues and students liked him, the job made him unhappy.
The teaching materials are too rigid and the creative mode is single, which limits his imagination and creativity. Two years later, Song Peilun resigned decisively. He didn't want to be tied down by his work and wear out his inspiration. Although this job is the envy of many, Song Peilun knows that he cannot stop on the road of pursuing his dreams. He was determined to achieve his ideals in a limited amount of time because everyone's life is finite, and he didn't want to regret not pursuing it in his old age.
Build a legend and pass on the culture.
In 1993, Song Peilun was invited to the United States to participate in the construction of "Splendid China", which gave him the opportunity to see the famous sculpture "Crazy Horse Mountain". This work gave him the courage to realize his dream. Although he knew that it would take a long time to recreate the country of Yoro, he was full of confidence.
Therefore, even if he had the opportunity to get a U.S. green card, he resolutely returned to his hometown and was ready to realize his dream. The following year, he rented a valley in Huaxi, Guizhou, and decided to build his "Yelang Dream" there. He used all his savings to hire craftsmen to build the country of Yoro for him.
In order to save costs, he chose to use pottery shards, tiles and stones that others did not want. He only told the workers a rough idea and let them run free to let their imagination run wild. During the construction process, Song Peilun showed great patience and was strict with every detail. He gave the building a beautiful name - Yoro Valley. However, despite his efforts, his savings of 300,000 were quickly exhausted. In order to continue his dream, Song Peilun made a difficult decision and decided to open Yelang Valley on a regular basis and use the ticket revenue to continue the construction.
Guarding the original intention and being indomitable.
In 2000, Yelang Valley was opened, but Song Peilun chose to keep a low profile. However, some businessmen saw a business opportunity and were willing to invest 20 million to commercialize the publicity, but Song Peilun refused. In 2011, the construction of the nearby university town brought challenges to Yorogaku, blocking the road to Yorodaya and dealing a devastating blow to the construction. Although Yelang Valley was in trouble for a while, Song Peilun never gave up.
He borrowed 3 million to continue the construction and refused the cooperation of some businessmen. Luckily, in 2016, Yoro Valley reopened. However, Yoro Valley is becoming more and more well-known and attracting more and more tourists. Despite the millions in ticket revenue, Song Peilun was not happy. He had always longed for the tranquility of Yoro Valley, but now, this could no longer be achieved.
More and more investors wanted to join and were willing to contribute 100 million, but Song Peilun rejected all the investment. However, the merchants did not give up and began to build high-rise buildings around Yoro Valley. The area of Yoro Valley was reduced to just over 100 acres and became commercialized. In terms of operation and maintenance, Song Peilun was very troubled. At the age of 81, he decided to donate Yelanggu to Guizhou University of Finance and Economics, hoping to pass on traditional Chinese culture.
Song Peilun's story is like a mountain legend, and he uses his actions to interpret his love for art and his persistence in his dreams. Despite all kinds of difficulties and **, he never forgot his original intention, and moved forward unrelentingly in order to protect the dream of Yelang in his heart. His story shows us that pursuing inner passion and unwavering belief is the only way to success.