On February 20, prizes were awarded at the 62nd Berlin film festival. Chinese film White Deer plain (Bai lu yuan) won the Silver Bear for outstanding artistic contribution (camera) for its exceptional photography. The cinematographer, Lutz Reitemeier, has been working with director Wang Quan’an (王全安) for ten years. This is also the third time that Mr. Wang’s work has won an award at Berlin film festival since his Tuya’ Marriage and Apart Together.

The film is an adaptation of the novel White Deer Plain written by Chen Zhongshi (陈忠实). It tells an epic tale spanning three generations of the Bai and Lu families in Bai Lu Village. The conflicts between the two peasant families serve as a miniature of the primitive living situation of northern peasants in China. The main story line in the film is the romantic relationships the leading female role Bai Xiao’e (played by Zhang Yuqi, 张雨绮) has with men from the two families. The story is told in a time span of thirty years from the end of Qing Dynasty to the beginning of the Anti-Japanese War. The evolution of society in history and its influence on common people can be seen through the ups and downs of two families.

White Deer Plain has borne strong references to both Chinese history and culture during that period. The novel is considered one of the best works in Chinese contemporary literature and the screen adaptation can be a great challenge. The film has been under preparation for 9 years and it took 3 years to finish it. Like the other works of director Wang Quan’an, White Deer Plain has won great acclaim after its preview in China. Some think the film has a serious subject matter that is lack in today’s Chinese films. Some even say that it is a rare work since 1949.

The film has aroused high expectations among Chinese movie fans as well as famous cultural figures with its unique local features–the sea of rolling wheat on the vast plain, the Shanxi dialect, and traditional Qin opera, which help re-create the original and authentic living scene of that specific historical period.

White Deer Plain was the only Chinese film to compete at this year’s Berlin film festival. The original length is more than three hours and it may face a cut before Chinese audience sees it in the cinema.

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journalist/亲爱的豆子, editor/阿笨, pictures from/Beijing People’s Arts Theater

In 2009, when word had it that the Bird Man was about to be put on the stage again, theater fans in Beijing got immediately thrilled. The play that starred Lin Liankun (林连昆) and Liang Guanhua (梁冠华) years ago was considered a rebellion against the traditions of Beijing People’s Art Theater, but was a huge success, too. “The line of people buying tickets went all the way down into the Baofang Alley.” Nineteen years later, the rearranged Bird Man had been in preparation for as long as three years before going to the stage and it has just finished its third round of performance with a full house.

It might have never occurred to Fu Jia (傅迦) who went to the capital theater for the first time in 1993 and applauded among the audience that he would actually take over the bird cage from Mr. Liang Guanhua and play the role of “Tianjin Guard” (the “fatty” in original version). The “ theater bug” from Tianjin has just entered his sixth year at People’s Art.

Follow the directions of the “fate”

Fu Jia comes from a line of artistes whose father is a movie actor and whose mother is a theater actress. There are even relatives who are in circles of Chinese opera and folk arts. Growing up exposed to various artistic forms, Fu Jia had decided to go for Beijing Film Academy when he applied for college. However, he was eliminated unexpectedly in the first round. The great hopes Fu had entertained were crashed. Disappointed, he was led onto another path. He became an actor of the Theatrical Troupe of the People’s Liberation Army General Political Department, where he stayed for sixteen years. Although not a member anymore, Fu has always been grateful for his experience there. “It is easy for someone in his twenties to take detours and make mistakes. I stayed in the troops when I was in my twenties and I passed through that period of anxiety peacefully. When I came to People’s Arts Theatre in my thirties, I was already a mature man and could be fully engaged in my work.”

How Fu Jia became a member of People’s Arts Theater was also a result of “fate”. Actor He Bing (何冰) who was not able to play in White Deer Plain (白鹿原) directed by the famous director Lin Zhaohua (林兆华), so Lin came to the Theatrical Troupe to borrow an actor and he picked Fu Jia at first sight. Fu’s role of the “black kid” was so impressive that many “big stars” at People’s Arts Theater spoke highly of his acting, including Song Dandan (宋丹丹), who later collaborated with Fu many times by playing wife and husband with him. Highly recommended by Song Dandan, Fu Jia was hired by Beijing People’s Arts Theater. All these coincidences have brought the “Tianjin Guard” in Bird Man to us.

During Fu Jia’s lifetime, many things happen by coincidence. Speaking with Fu, one can also feel his belief in “fate” in his words. To Fu, it is all attributed to “fate” what roles he is playing and people he is meeting. Fu has his own understanding of “fate”. “Yang Jiang (杨绛) in Walking to the Edge of Life onced compared “Ming” (life) to a river and “Yun” (fortune) to a ship. You are the captain of that ship. In this river, you can avoid dangerous areas and head forward all the time. But what if you want to drive it to another river? No, it is absolutely impossible. This is fate.” Because of this, Fu has no definite plans for the future right now. “I was always pushing myself when I was young. But I do not do it anymore. If you are destined for eight Chi, you can never get one Zhang (which equals ten Chi). When time comes, what should come will come.”

Acting: an actor is the one who delivers the message

As a matter of fact, Fu Jia had been a member of the People’s Arts Theater for only three years when the theater decided to put Bird Man on stage again in 2009. Although he was already a veteran in acting, he was still new to the stage there. Nevertheless, it was such a “rookie” who had never played important roles at the theater that got chosen by the director to take Mr. Liang Guanhua’s role. As an actor in the new version of Bird Man, Fu Jia held deep respect for the 1993 version. “This role belongs to Mr. Liang Guanhua. I am just copying and learning from him. It is because neither the “Master Three” played by Mr. Lin Liankun nor the “Fatty” played by Mr. Liang Guanhua could ever be surpassed or replicated. It there was not Mr. Liang before me, I could not have had such a big confidence.” As for why director Lin picked him, Fu Jia thought he was being lucky for the fact that he was from Tianjin. On the other hand, however, his comedy flair and unique acting style have made him more than equal to this role.

Speaking of Fu Jia’s acting style, those who have seen him acting have the similar feeling. One can barely see deliberateness in Fu’s acting. On the contrary, his delivers his lines in a natural way and his body is relaxed, bringing about wonderful dramatic effects. This is Fu Jia’s “acting belief” that he has gradually formed after years of setbacks and reflection. According to him, ultimately an actor is not acting anymore. An actor is not a puppet that “presents every detail to the audience and acts to the fullest”. In the opposite, an actor is “an ideological figure and a narrator who presents the ideas and information for the writer or director”. The standard of a good actor is “not the scale or intensity of acting, but the accuracy of what he has delivered to the audience”. The character of “Tianjin Guard” in Bird Man is just his interpretation of such an acting belief. As someone who connects the entire play, Fu Jia is able to stand out and step back at the right time and have the character in control. Sometime he even goes against traditional acting theories and played the role with “superficiality”, just enough to deliver the idea that the character is supposed to present to the audience.

For Fu Jia, even a small step on the stage is attributed to considerable efforts behind it. “You have no idea how hard I have practiced. My lines in the Bird Man seem to be quite casual and said in a relaxing manner on the stage. But I have thought so much about it. As an actor, I don’t want any role that I play to be bland. If the character is too common, then I will not play it. It is just like my aesthetics. I don’t follow the crowd and I want to have the ability to think independently. I don’t just agree with others’ judgments.” He hit the table with his hand, “hey, why it is good only because they others say it is?”

Theater: People’s Arts Theater is a container

The six years at the theater have given new ideas to Fu Jia both professionally and personally. Then what is the most import thing that he has gained? Fu gave his answer without thinking, “Money. It is my income of course. I get paid by acting in plays.” Then he became serious after the joke. “People’s Arts Theater is a container full of fragrant oil. Even if you do not jump into it and just stay by its side, you will be influenced. After all I am inside it. I may be not so good, but I will become better in it.”

In the heart of Fu Jia, director Lin Zhaohua is a real master. “That old man is a god. Nobody can surpass him in the next twenty to thirty years. He has no purpose already and is just having fun. Who can ever surpass his work that is created in this way?” Without noticing, Fu Jia was hugely influenced by the director. He admitted that much of his understanding of acting came from the director’s ideas expressed during the rehearsals. “The old man might not be telling me specifically what I should do. However, with all these years being with him and seeing how he created his works, I can actually come up with many things myself. Why is it that nothing is special during the rehearsals but it turns out so well on the stage like a blockbuster? Why the director never uses ceiling spotlight and who else can go with that? How he uses the light, arrange the stage set and what he expects from the actors’ acting etc cannot be taught. One is neither going to learn even if he teaches you. You have to watch him and think why he does that.”

Last summer, the play Jiang Xiaodong and Liu Xiaowen got extremely popular in the small theaters in Beijing and was later carried on in the experimental theater of People’s Arts Theater. The play was produced in the name of “Shanshui Theater”. It was actually a play for small theaters and was wrote, directed and played all by Fu Jia. The word “Shanshui” was inspired by the freestyle in Chinese water and ink painting, which was also corresponding with the directing style of director Lin. Fu Jia said straightly, “There are too many plays of very poor quality and I just want to set a benchmark by doing running this small theater.” He spent one night to finish the script but used half a year to revise and readapt until he would not allow the actors to change any single character in rehearsals. “Speaking only of the text, I could say with confidence that there is not a small theater production in China with a realistic theme that can surpass this one.”

After taking on the job of three roles—scriptwriter, director, and actor—at one time, Fu Jia has had a better understanding of the three identities. “To be the scriptwriter is the most difficult. The script can be rewritten again and again if one wants the script to be without any extra word. As for the director,” Fu Jia stopped, smiled and continued, “the director does not need to specialize in any single subject, but he should be good at various fields. The director needs to coordinate and take into consideration all aspects. It is somewhat a tiresome and boring job. I cannot be a director because I can only specialize in one area.” In his eyes, it is acting that is most thrilling. “If I am blessed with a healthy body and strong mind, I will act for all my life until I cannot move. I feel great to have such a job and I am satisfied.”

In recent years, actors from both People’s Arts Theater and small theaters spend half of their time playing in TV dramas. So does Fu Jia. During the days that Bird Man was put on, Fu would spend the days at the shooting site and the nights on the stage. He said, “Now what is embarrassing is that I can not make ends meet by playing in theaters. I have to do TV dramas. I used to think narrowly that theater is a way of charging and the TV is a way of releasing the power that has been charged. However, I slowly realized that TV drama is not just a way of making money. It is also a process of artistic creation. Theater and TV are two different categories of art. There is no ranking between the two. I just need to put my heart into it. While I grow older, TV might gradually become a larger part. After all it is exhausting to play in theaters. What is more, the script is vitally important for a play. It is not so easy to run into a good one.”

Life: 99.9 % perfect

Fu Jia has always enjoyed both his job and his life due to his strong passion in both. In days when there is no work to do, he has always loved reading. Talking with Fu Jia, one would often hear various quotations and stories. He demonstrates a great knowledge in culture between his words. Fu also has his own way of reading. “In fact I have not done so much reading. But I keep a habit of taking notes. I would write down my own feelings and things that I find interesting in books. I would also writer interesting conversations that I have had with others. Many of the lines in Jiang Xiaodong and Liu Xiaowen came in this way.”

When he is not reading, Fu Jia will spend time with his wife and daughter and enjoy the small happiness in life. Fu has so much to say about his 9-year-old daughter whose nick name is Raorao. The girl has acquired the same independent spirit as her father. “She chooses what she wants to learn at school. Once the two of us went hiking and we saw someone playing Guzheng beside a withered tree in the sunset. Raorao suddenly stopped and asked me what that was. I told her that was a Guzheng and she said she wanted to learn. Now she plays very well and has achieved level seven. I want her to learn another instrument when she achieves level ten. She does not have to been professional; it is just for fun.” Fu Jia has no long-term plans for either himself or his daughter. He wants to leave more space to her so that she can choose on her own. “Otherwise she will be exhausted and it is not worth it.”

When he is not working, Fu Jia also likes to stay in the kitchen and cook. “I cook everyday as long as I am home.” Speaking of cooking, Fu was proud of this. “What a romantic thing it is to cook for my wife! How many can cook a dinner out there? I can think about my play while I am cooking and lines would come out of my mouth from time to time. And my wife would call me crazy.” Fu Jia has known his wife for twenty years and they have been together for twelve years. From classmates to husband and wife, the two have their hearts connected with each other despite bickering. “We used to be in the same profession. She would ask me questions about my acting. She was my first audience who never lied. Neither did she flatter me. She said that there was a fault-finding woman behind every successful man.”

Indeed, Fu Jia considers himself as that successful man, who is actually “quite successful”. He has his own set of definitions for success. “What is success? It is that you live out of your own will and it has nothing to do with physical wealth. Life can never be perfect. But in the scale of 100, my score is always 99.9. I am happy enough right now. As for what the future will be, I will leave that to fate.” As a “theater bug”, he has many good roles to play. As a man, he has a family that is always there for him. There is probably only one way that best describes Fu Jia in his current life—contented with what he has.

This article is originally published in 文艺生活周刊 and translated by See China.

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Love of Peacock (picture from online sources)

In 1986, the then 28-year-old Yang Liping (杨丽萍) rose to fame after choreographing and performing the classic solo dance “Spirit of Peacock” (雀之灵). The dance won her various prestigious awards and has thus made her a nationwide star. Ever since then, the female dancer has been known as the “Peacock Princess” and the “Goddess of Dance”. The peacock figure in her dance has been so impressed in the viewers’ heart and Yang has always been connected with peacock dance.

On January 22^nd, 2012, the 54-year-old once again caught people’s eyes in CCTV’s annual New Year’s Gala, which is a ritual that is as deeply ingrained in the holiday tradition and fascinated the audience with her rearranged version of the dance—“Love of the Peacock” (雀之恋). In the performance, Yang, wearing the exquisitely crafted costume that weighed 5 kilograms, cooperated with another male dancer and the performance was an immediate success.

After the show was aired and the video of Yang’ dance began circulating online, hot discussions were generated about the legendary dancer. An entry on China’s Twitter-like micro-blogging site Weibo about Yang immediately received thousands of replies and was retweeted thousands of times. The tweet went as follows:

A journalist asked the 54-year-old artist, “Are you not having kids because of your dancing career?” Yang answered, “People have different purposes for their life. Some are for carrying on the family line; some are for enjoyment; some are for experience; some are for appreciating. My life is lived for the purpose of appreciating. I came to the world just to see how a tree grows, how rivers flow, how cloud moves and how dew forms.”

Love of Peacock (picture from online sources)

A lifetime dancer

Yang’s success as a dancer is not a result of good luck or accident, but comes from her persistent pursuit of beauty. Yang’s loves for life and belief is dancing are awe-inspiring. For decades, she has devoted her entire life to dancing. Born in Yunnan, Yang had never received any formal education in choreography. She began her dancing career in Xishuangbanna Prefecture Song and Dance Troupe in 1971 when she was only thirteen years old and was the youngest in the troupe.

As a dancer, Yang has kept a good habit of observing everything in life. There were sunflowers around where she lived and she has always thought that sunflower was a flower with unique spirit which “moves toward light and beauty”. Later in many of her dance works, many moves of swiveling were imitating the sunflower facing the sun. When Yang went to villages with the troupe to perform, she would live with local villagers and help with the field work. The experience had brought her to know many different minority groups and she thus learned the dancing in various cultures.

The most wonderful thing in such experiences was observing the peacocks. The green peacocks in Xishuangbanna were smaller in shape than the usual blue peacocks, but more delicate. Sunlight would come through the tail when the peacock was on display. During her stays in villages, she would hide behind trees to see how peacocks walked and shook their shoulders. “They are born dancers.” It is in this way that Yang Liping turned herself into a peacock.

With a deep affection for peacock, Yang has choreographed and performed various peacock dances. As an artist with strong individuality and unique style, she is born for solo dance. The Spirit of Peacock presents a personified peacock, in which the dance imitates several the typical postures of the queen of birds. However, the dance is more than physical imitation, but a presentation both the physique and psyche of a peacock. The essence of the peacock dance lies in the move of the dancer’s slim arms. The passion for life sparks in tender beauty. With her peacock so vivid in the heart of those who have seen it, Yang has become a living legend in the world of dancing.

An artist concerned with more than dancing

Not only a devotee of the art of dancing, Yang is an artist who is also deeply concerned with the original dancing culture and the preservation of its heritage. In addition to solo dances, Yang has also been working on group dancing and singing parades. Born in a place with dynamic dancing and singing culture, Yang has always been caring about her hometown legacy and other original dancing culture.

During the peak of his dancing career, Yang chose to go back to her hometown Yunnan to work on The Legend of Shangri-La—a trilogy that has won numerous awards and been performed all around the globe. The purpose of The Legend of Shangri-La, according to Yang Liping, is to preserve the traditions of culture of minority groups. She once said,

“On those field trips, I was totally enchanted by the vast number of folk songs and folk dances that I encountered. But at the same time, I was extremely worried that the so-called modern lifestyle and its rapid commercialization would lead to the demise of the indigenous music cultures. Many tribal people already preferred jeans to embroidered shoes. When I realized there were only a couple of old drummers left who could play the Divine Drum of the Luchun tribe, I knew that those scores of drum dances would disappear with the passing of these last players. I felt the only thing one could do was to take the matter into one’s own hands, and act fast. And that was how The Legend of Shangri-La was born. I insisted on recruiting natives from the respective villages. These are simple folks who only dance for love and for life. The joy and elation emanating from them when they dance best illustrate the true spirit of this musical production.”

The Legend of Shangri-La (picture from online sources)

With her belief in primitiveness, when casting for the parade, Yang insisted on choosing common people who grew up in the mountain villages in Yunnan and had never received any kind of formal training in dancing but who were all natural dancers. What was more important, these villager dancers were expert in imitating the nature. The Legend of Shangri-La  has been an exceptional success and brought Yang’s career to a new height.

Innovation in traditions

The invasion of modern civilization is fast, as observed by Yang Liping. Talented dancers left for a better life in the city instead of dancing in minority groups’ costumes. Yang is worried about the loss of great dancers. In her opinion, traditions should be preserved despite the rapid spread of modern civilization. She insists on that modernization should not be achieved at the price of traditional culture. Thus she invited Wang Di (王迪) to perform in her new work Love of Peacock, who specializes in modern dance. According to Yang Liping, a combination of tradition and modernity is the “New Oriental Aesthetics” she has been pursuing. And she made it again.

Love of Peacock (picture from online sources)

Different from the Spirit of Peacock which was a solo performance, the rearranged Love of Peacock is a duet work. Against a backdrop of blue forest, two peacocks in love with each other dance together in elaborate costumes. To create an artistic living environment for the peacocks, there is the fernleaf hedge bamboo in the moonlight so that the peacocks look more blended into the environment. A romantic atmosphere is created for the two lovers with the moon slowly moving in the sky and butterflies flying in the bamboo bushes. In a halo of romantic light, the love of the two peacocks reaches its climax, so does the dance. At this moment, an animation of the peacock spreading its plumage appears on the background screen. The beauty of the dance is fully presented in front of the audience. With the help of high technology, the performance is even more spectacular in its effects.

Love of Peacock (picture from online sources)

Having a lasting passion and an innovative spirit, Yang continues her exploration in the art of dancing even in her fifties. Observing closely the world around her, she is always trying to create art that corresponds with the era we are in. “It is not enough to just carry on the traditions; there should be art that fits with the spirit of modern east”, she said.

references:

http://www.cgtiger.com/news/1604.html
http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_4ad9d8660102dxp2.html
http://news.163.com/12/0210/11/7PT9R0SB00014JB6_3.html

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cover of Global People, issue 145, The War between Han Han and Li Yanhong

The year 2011 has already come to an end, leaving much for us to reflect upon and discuss. Last year in China, it was never quiet in newspapers’ social news. Dramatic things happened everywhere in the country. In the culture circle, it was as well not so peaceful. Various cultural events have attracted constant attention and led to heated discussion. In reference to various media coverage and the hot topic lists from microblog websites, a list of “top ten cultural events” was drawn up as follows.

The sixth list of Richest Chinese Writers provoking controversy

On November 21st, when the 2011 Sixth List of Richest Chinese Writers hit the headlines of Huaxi Dushi Daily, it soon spread to other media forms attracting a readership of thousands. The hot topic generated enthusiastic discussions on the group of Chinese writers as well as controversies. The top three of the list were Guo Jingming (郭敬明), Nan Pai San Shu (南派三叔) and Zheng Yuanjie (郑渊洁). Márquez ranked No. 1 of the list of richest foreign writers. Voices were heard from various fields of society. It turned out the teenage groups was the main force of the readership and the canon lacked no readers. Another list of richest cartoonists also brought the groups of cartoonists under the spotlight. According to famous cartoonist A Gui (阿桂), the list of richest cartoonist was an indication the original Chinese cartoon was moving towards the front of society—a display of the power of original Chinese cartoon. It would help encourage more people to go for cartoon. Indeed, it is honorable that writing can make one rich. However, is literature “rich” yet? It is a question worth thinking about more.

Condemnation from fifty writers of Baidu’s online book archive

On March 15th, a group of nearly 50 Chinese writers signed the “315” Chinese Writers’Appeal to Baidu, including Han Han (韩寒), Guo Jingming (郭敬明), Jia Pingwa (贾平凹), Mai Jia (麦家), Yan Lianke (阎连科), Dangnian Mingyue (当年明月), Li Yinhe (李银河), Shi Kang (石康), Peng Haoxiang (彭浩翔), An Yiru (安意如) etc. The appeal accused Baidu of copyright infringement by providing almost all of the works of the above writers for free without any authorization. Once released, the appeal letter drew strong support. On the evening of March 22nd, a total of nearly 20 private book sellers attended a conference organized by China Written Works Copyright Society. Representatives were selected to have a negotiation with the company Badiu. In the Internet age, free sharing does not equal to free of charge. One can share one’s own rights, but has no right to use others’. If writers cannot get any economic returns due to online pirated versions or even make ends meet, they are very likely to change their professions. If one really loves one work, one should go to the bookstore and buy a copy to show support.

The Eighth Circuit of Mao Dun Literature Award China responding to questioning

The Eighth Circuit of Mao Dun Literature Award China started to collect works from the beginning of March and in May judges started to read entries allocated to them. Writers including Su Tong (苏童), Han Dong (韩东), Ya Zhaoyan (叶兆言), Liu Qingbang (刘庆邦), A Lai (阿来), Guan Renshan (关仁山), Hong Ke (红柯), Liu Xinglong (刘醒龙), MoYan (莫言) etc. were short-listed. In the second half of the selection, Liu Xinglong’s Tian Xing Zhe, Liu Zhenyun’s One Sentence Measures Ten Thousand, Zhang Wei’s You Are on the Plateau and Bi Feiyu’s Massage and etc. stood out. Since results of the first-round voting were made public, the Eighth Circuit of Mao Dun Literature Award China had caused considerable disputes. For example, there were quite a number of short-listed writers who were first-level provincial chairpersons and deputy chairpersons of writers’ associations. In responding to this, according to Gao Hongbo (高洪波), the deputy chairperson of China Writers’ Association, the chairperson and deputy chairperson of writers’ association were themselves competitive candidates and it was reasonable that their works ran for the award. They were short-listed because they could writer good works.

Chinese version of One Hundred Years of Solitude to be published

The publication of a book can hardly become a cultural event and the centre of attention. But the classic One Hundred Years of Solitude has made an exception. Previously when Márquez and his agent came to China, they saw different versions of the book and another one—Love in the Time of Cholera that were published unauthorized. He was so angry that once said that he “would not authorize Chinese publishing houses to publish his works in the 150 years after his death, including One Hundred Years of Solitude”. The authorization had made One Hundred Years of Solitude the headline with large amount of media coverage. The readers had great expectation and the publication was heatedly discussed online. What this had brought was millions of copies in 6 months hit the book stores in China. Márquez’s annual royalties amounted to 11 million, making Márquez the richest foreign writer in 2011.

The unusual “Internet Divine Song” Tan Te (disturbed) in full swing

It is not easy to notice that the song Tan Te (忐忑) already got popular online and spread quickly in the second half of 2010. When Gong Lingna (龚琳娜) performed the song, her eyes were wide open at one moment and made a squint at another. She also flung her head and wriggled here waist easily. Later the song spread crazily online and the famous Chinese singer Wang Fei (王菲) once said that the song “is at the beginning all gabbing and sinister, is lunatic in the middle and becomes a deep signing in the end where the secular world is abandoned by the one who rises to a deity”. However, what has made the song a real cultural event is the all kinds of adaptations of it by netizens of different ages and from all over the world. They all recorded their versions with exaggerated facial expressions and put it on the Internet. Even some celebrities followed suit, including famous Hong Kong actor Du Wenze (杜汶泽). In the video he posted, he sang with his right hand forefinger in front of the tip of his nose and pretended cocked eyes.

National Copyright Administration of the P. R. C.: new criterion for money paid to the author

According to the sixth item in the Regulations issued by the National Copyright Administration, the standard for basic remuneration is “30—100 yuan per thousand words for original work”. In terms of the lowest 30 rmb for 1000 words, some pointed out in editorial that “such a standard literally reduces brainworkers into manual laborers”. People from the National Copyright Administration explained that the standard was set up on the basis of the overall national economic level and the price of general cultural products. Recent reports say that the National Copyright Administration is currently revising the Regulation on Remuneration for Published Written Works and is going to set a new standard. The news immediately draw writers’ attention. Newspaper in developed countries pay 750-2000 US dollars for per 1000 words, so contributors and journalists can lead a decent life. Hopefully the new standard will allow all writers and editors benefit from it.

Ge Kiln from Song Dynsty—first-class historical relics in the Forbidden City damaged

On July 30^th, on Sina weibo, the popular microblog platform in China, word said that a piece of first-class historical relic Ge Kiln porcelain—one of the five official wares in Song Dynasty was broken. It was a first-class historical relic and a representative piece of Ge Kiln’s celadon. The mallow-petal plate was extremely rare. Later, media coverage revealed that the celadon was accidentally broken by staff in the Forbidden City during a damage inspection as early as July 4^th. It was broken into six pieces with irregular shapes. In the following 26 days, the Forbidden City had kept silence on this. At 9 on July 31^st, the Palace Museum confirmed with the media that lapse of the staff led to the damage of the celadon, which happened 26 days ago. An artificial mistake broke not only a precious historical relic, but tarnished a cultural heritage of thousands of years. People started to question what should be the correct way to take care of national treasures.

Beginning of The Great Revival: hundreds of celebrities seen at the premiere

In September 2009, different from previous main-theme movies, The Founding of a Republic with an all-star cast started a new type with all-star cast and highly commercialized marketing. It did not only generate a box office revenue of 420 million, but became a sensational topic back then. In memory of the 90^th anniversary of Communist Party of China, the Beginning of The Great Revival in 2011 hit the cinema with faces of more than 100 celebrities including Zhou Runfa (周润发), Liu Dehua (刘德华), Feng Kong (冯巩), Zhao Benshan (赵本山), Fan Wei (范伟), Chen Daoming (陈道明), etc. Some only appeared for seconds in the movie, leaving the audience counting the faces while watching. Thus it was not hard to imagine the hot discussion generated after its premiere.

Departed Steve Jobs; came his biography

The founder of Apple Company Steve Jobs died of cancer on October 6^th (Beijing time), aged 56. The departure of the genius left fans around the world heartbroken. On October 24^th, Steve jobs: A Biography—the only biography authorized by Steve Jobs was released simultaneously worldwide and the simplified Chinese version was also available the same day, which was hugely popular among Steve’s fans. It was an important mark in the publishing industry. According to official statistics provide by CITIC, the simplified Chinese version of the book sold 678,000 copies for the first week. What is more, there has been constant media coverage and heated discussion. In the hearts of many people, Jobs is still alive.

Jia Pingwa’s copyright issue: “one lady engaged in two marriages”

Earlier this year, the new book of Jia Pingwa (贾平凹) Old Furnace was published. According to the media, the People’s Literature Publishing House owned the copyright, but the copyright of its electronic version was given to a portal by written authorization from Jia. The two sides made it to the court, causing much attention. It was seemingly a dispute caused by conflicts between electronic copyright and hardcopy copyright, but was more of a challenge exposed to traditional publishing by digital publishing. Digital reading has become the habit of the young generation. For publishing houses, however, the priority is how to confront this new trend. For writers, it is of great significance to have a clear picture of the importance of electronic copyright of one’s works.

source: http://news.ifeng.com/opinion/gundong/detail_2011_12/15/11348602_0.shtml

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(picture from online sources)

We have seen various mixtures of different artistic forms and styles, so I guess it is not hard to imagine collaboration between modern orchestra and traditional folk instruments. On January 10, the Concert of Symphonic Music of SHCM was held in Beijing Music Hall, following their performance in Shanghai Music Hall on January 5. The performance was given by an ensemble of prestigious artists and talented students from Shanghai Conservatory of Music accompanied by Shanghai Opera House Orchestra.

The concert is entitled He Yi Zhuang Cheng (和毅庄诚) in Chinese, which is also the motto of Shanghai Conservatory of Music. The four characters mean harmony, perseverance, solemnity and sincerity respectively in Chinese. The concert was considered as a witness to Chinese musicians’ 15-year exploration in symphony composition. The performance was composed of works by musicians all from the conservatory, one of the best in China. The 7 compositions represented the composers’ pursuit of the interfusion of national culture and symphonic concepts from different perspectives and with various techniques. Some said it was a postmodernist concert.

The works performed included Long Song for Desert (漠壁长歌) by Zhang Xuru (张旭儒), Traces IV (痕迹之四) by Wen Deqing (温德清), Yun (韵) by Xu Shuya (许舒亚), Late Autumn (晚秋) by Ye Guohui (叶国辉), Sound from Ancient Times (元籁) by Xu Mengdong (徐孟东), Da Jia Ye (打家业) by Zhou Xianglin (周湘林) and Chanting and Allegro (《引子、吟腔与快板) by Yang Liqing (杨立青). All of the works have had different kinds of collaboration between modern symphony and traditional music forms. In Long Song for Desert, traditional Mongolian singing art is involved where a young man with a low tone imitates the wind roaring and the camels mourning. The vivid imitation of natural sounds produces lasting effects in the audience. Other traditional instruments included suo-na, erhu and da liuzi from Chinese minority ethnic group Tujia.

The concert was conducted by Zhang Guoyong (张国勇), who is a well-educated and experienced professor from SHCM. His artistic style is both passionate and profound. While conducting the orchestra and individual performers, Zhang also took the responsibility of introducing the works performed and interacting with the audience. Probably not so satisfied with the lukewarm response from the audience after the first piece, Zhao stopped and turned to audience, starting an almost five-minute-long talk. He started with Chinese symphonic music that according to him was in a primary stage and just beginning to develop. Original creation needs support as well as audience. In terms of traditional and modern music, he said that it was impossible that a master of modern music had no idea about traditions, which were the basics one should be command of. Then he went on to tell the audience one anecdote he once had when he was listening to a concert in Beijing to joke about how warm he thought Beijing audience are. After that he begun to expound on how difficult he thought it was for composers to create their works and how complicated the works were by showing the audience how long his music score was.

Zhang Guoyong (picture from online sources)

Before the composition Late Autumn started, Zhang Guoyong took this piece as an example to approach the topic of comprehension of a composition. Late Autumn by Ye Guohui is a piece to highlight the composer’s perception of human and nature which is based on the season, as well as composed in the impressionistic style with simple and concentrated music words. According to the conductor, music is the most abstract artistic form, not as comprehensible as drama or even body gestures. There should be worries about how to understand what the music is about; just enjoy is enough.

Among all the instrumentalists and vocalists, two young faces stood out among a group of senior artists who already enjoyed worldwide recognition. There were two Mongolian artists Na Ren (娜仁) and Haimu Ritai (海木日台). One of the two vocalists performing in Yun Li Xiuying (李秀英), who played Cio-cio San in Madama Butterfly, was “a really striking performer”, according to New York Times, and “offered big, clear singing with dramatic nuance as the Brescia Butterfly”. Chen Xiaolong (陈小龙) and Ying Yiting (应怡婷) were both current students at Shanghai Conservatory of Music. At an early age, the two have already won several international awards and various titles. Both of them performed in collaboration with the orchestra with instruments they specialized in. Chen Xiaolong is an outstanding young celloist and Yiting played erhu exquisitely that surprised the audience. An excellent student at SHCM, she plays the two-stringed Chinese fiddle with power and emotion. Watching her playing, one may wonder at how powerful her muscle is.

The 1,200 seats in Beijing Music Hall were not fully occupied at a time when Chinese Spring Festival was approaching and all the theatres were tightly scheduled. But the performance was warmly received and enthusiastic applause broke out from time to time. The performance was sponsored by China Symphony Development Foundation and Shanghai Conservatory of Music.

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The Great Magician tells a love story during the time of the Republic of China. Zhang Xian (张贤), who inherited his skills of traditional Chinese magic tricks, became extremely popular in Peking. The lord Duan Shizhang (段士章) had a concubine who took a pleasure in magic, thus Zhang Xian was appreciated by Duan. Duan recommended that Zhang Xian take part in the International Magic Competition held inGreat Britain. After coming back toChina, Zhang Xian was set up by Duan’s machinations. It turned out Zhang Xian and Liu Yin (the concubine) had known each other when they were children and got split apart by accident. Liu Yin’s father had been house arrested by Duan. It took Zhang ten years to practice his skills and what had happened in Peking was all in his plan. In the end, the couple got together and left.

Directed by Hong Kong director Er Dongsheng (尔冬升), the film has a cast led by Liang Chaowei (梁朝伟), Liu Qingyun (刘青云) and Zhou Xun (周迅). It is adapted from a novel by Zhang Haifan (张海帆) by the same title. The novel devotes a large part to traditional Chinese magic tricks and the film is going to show these tricks with the help of special effects. The three leading actors and actress have received training from real magician and all become magic virtuosos.

Liang Chaowei

Zhou Xun

Director Er Dongsheng

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Born in Shanghai, Zhu Qi is an art critic and independent curator. He is a graduate professor and on the judge panel of many art awards. He has curated a series of important avant-garde art exhibitions in the 1990s and published a large amount of art criticism and academic papers in media both in China and abroad.  

One of the most popular artists in today's China, Yue Minjun (岳敏君) and his painting “Seen in the Grass Land” (picture from online sources)

There are constantly collectors, journalists and gallery owners asking me the question: whose art do you think is better at present? It indicates that we are at a time when “good artists” are scarce. With hundreds of millions being thrown into the market and thousands of galleries, hundreds of auction companies and dozens of art media being set up in China, the giant art dealing system is like a hungry beast who is constantly seeking for “good works”.

The harsh reality, however, is that the time when art groups emerged from time to time in the 80s and 90s has come to an end. As a matter of fact, Chinese contemporary art is in the same predicament as the world’s—the contemporary art is entering into a time of “mediocrity”. Today’s artists are all able to use the most popular artistic techniques in the world: pop, concept, new media etc. Nevertheless, the artistic concepts and work forms are quite self-oriented and lack individuality. Their works suggest good artistic education and language training the artists have received except that they lack an inspiring spiritual appeal.

During the last century, there were groups of talented artists emerging every ten years, but it would never happen again. It would be great if there appears 2 -3 artists every ten years. The American art exhibitions and sales system are still vibrant and the best artists are still eagerly waiting to be found by top museums, foundations and galleries. New York still has enough capital to scout for young talents around the world and pay for their works. After five years of the bubble, the over-expanded Chinese market is now caught in a dilemma. Facing limited resources in domestic market, Chinese buyers still lack money in the global market. The Chinese market has up to billions of capital, but the money rarely reach out for global market and seems excessive for the domestic market.

Famous works of the 80s and 90s have all been bought and hardly is there any good works in modern auctions. The price of some second-rate or even third-rate works has reached unreasonable high as a result of speculation, while young artists with potential who have just graduated from art academies have been signed up by galleries. Some turned to unknown artists from the New Wave of 1985 (八五新潮) whose works got sold out immediately. Thus the movement of “reaping” the works from the 80s and 90s came to an end. In the forest of modern art, everything from sky-high trees to young branches has been reaped. Even “grass” and “crooked trees” got snapped as precious plants. Modern art has thus become a wild wasteland after this round of harvesting.

Some collectors asked, “Is there any young artist coming out like those from the New Wave of 1985 and the late 70s?” I had to say sorry to them that there was none. Moreover, there will not be any more, either. The reason is that as the world, China has entered a long-term period of artistic mediocrity. The only difference lies in that the west has a “superior mediocrity”, while China a “inferior one”. The capital in Chinese art market will one day exceed that in the American market, which will not change the long-term mediocrity of global art industry.

This is attributed to that human mental status and social model are falling into a “post-Utopia” era. During the nearly 300 years from French revolution to the Cultural Revolution in China, the world has not come out of the depression after the world’s attempt of Utopia failed since the disintegration of the former Soviet Union. No one has ever come up with an ideal social model since WWⅡ. There is nobody willing to dedicate his/her life to revolution and Utopia because all kinds of revolution would end up with new hierarchy and corruption. Art will not go beyond the universality before the overall human spirit has passion and enlightenment.

There were two periods of climax in art creation during last century: one is the 20s and 30s when artists pursued Bohemian lifestyle and loved traveling abroad; the other is during the social movements of the 60s and 70s. Paris stood out in the 20s and 30s. Artists at that time whose life was full of alcohol addiction, promiscuity, brawling etc became a heterogeneous group due to their lifestyle and individualistic art creation. Most of the famous western artists and writers had had overseas experiences. Paul Gauguin led the trend of travelling abroad to find inspirations in different cultures. Even if the cultural differences were not able to shed a light upon the artists, travelling itself could be a kind of spiritual resource, which was enough to create art that could awe a domestic audience. In the 60s and 70s, social movements including worldwide anti-war movements, women’s liberation, homosexuality, minority rights etc had injected passion and spiritual stimulation into art, which was of great significance.

The art model established during the latter part of last century has led to the loss of the artists’ identity. They have to go to salons of higher class and have to dress and act like senior white collars in order to get sponsorship from and sign contract with galleries, foundations and biennials. When today’s artists go traveling abroad, they will encounter globalized cultures where there are the same Boeing airplanes, chain hotels, cell phones, Internet, ticket systems etc everywhere. The travel industry is destroying the local uniqueness. The lifestyle and overseas experiences could no longer serve as resources for art creation.

The west has not seen any social movements in 40 years and China has not in 20 years. The disappearance of social movement has turned a great era into a small era. Chinese modern art has entered into a “small era”—a mediocre period with prosperity on the surface. Chinese artists go after Damien Hirst and Murakami Takashi whose art have been corporatized and industrialized, but their language is becoming more and more refined and designed. The tastes and thinking ability have been downgraded to the level of fashion magazines.

It means that the status of Chinese culture is getting close to universality. The universality of capitalism has already become a reality—a universal state of spiritual homogenization and superior mediocrity. Can art acquire any spiritual power in a great era of capital and a small era of spirit? I believe Chinese art will have real breakthroughs, which is only limited to 3 to 5 people. There is no more possibility of a group of outstanding avant-garde artists.

source: http://bbs.cpanet.cn/viewthread.php?tid=226703

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(picture from online sources)

Today’s China is undergoing profound transformations and changes happen all the time in every aspect of the social life. We are living in a time when dramatic things happen everyday. It is overwhelming to look back on all the stories that have happened during the last 356 day, but fortunately we have numbers for us to refer to and reflect upon. Numbers can sometimes be confusing and deceiving, though. The number of Chinese film market of 2010 was the “10 billion”. For this year’s market, the number is all the way soaring. The expansion of cinemas and countless money-losing movies are twisting the landscape and it is not easy to get at the truth. To grasp the fundamental facts, one way is to make a comparison of these figures.

45%

It is the profit proportion required by the New Pictures for the box office revenue of The Flowers of War, Zhang Yimou’s epic blockbuster. It required that 0.45 yuan out of every 1 yuan revenue go to the company . The proportion is two percentage points higher than the previous 43%. It is a flexible number, though. When the box office reaches 500 million, the figure will go back to 41:59. Producers are satisfied with the change, considering it protecting the interests of filmmakers and a virtuous market behavior. While the cinemas, frustrated by the change, have to come up with new solutions to confront the increasingly rising prices. The SARFT later came to a final resolution. With a reference to the international standard, the proportion of first-round box office revenue cinemas receive should be no more than 50%. Although the figure can hardly be compared with the producers’ 90% in Hollywood, it takes its position on the producers’ side.

35

Premiered on this year’s super Bachelor’s day (2011-11-11), Love is Not Blind has received a box office which is 35 times more than the several millions it cost to make the film and the success of it has generated heated discussions in the industry. In Hollywood, The Blair Witch Project in 1999 and Paranormal Activity in 2009 are two 10,000 films that reached multibillion box offices. In China, such figures may seem too far away. Despite the large population, it still sounds fictional. Since the blockbuster Hero, domestic films have fallen into the pattern of high yields with high cost. Love is Not Blind is a turn as well as a blow to the market. Surviving among four multi-million Hollywood blockbusters has made it somewhat Luis Bunuel. It proved the feasibility of a certain alternative. The audience has become tired of movies with an all-star cast, and they are more willing to see something close to real life. It is not a certain genre like The Blair Witch Project or Paranormal Activity, but something that can be related to the viewer’s own experience in life. It is possible that this gives a signal to TV producers.

10.26

On this day, the overall domestic box office revenue reached 10 billion, 66 days earlier than in last year. Experts even predicted that the final figure for 2011 would be 13 billion. However, it is hardly enough to make us exited. During the 299 days, domestic films hit the screen one after another but seldom lived up to the market expectation despite all the efforts devoted. If it was not for Jack Sparrow, the panda Po and Optimus Prime that accounted for 2 billion of the overall box office, it was hard to decide whether the date might have come later. The buzz of cinemas was not generated by domestic films. A large number of domestic films, among which there were ones of poor quality, might distract the moviegoers and made them give up on trying. This year’s 10 billion came late already.

1/4

During the summer, Rest on Your Shoulders—a film combined of reality and animation ended up a complete fiasco. The cost reached as high as 80 million counting the publicity (an enormous amount for an artistic movie). The final box office was less than 1/4 of the cost. The director Zhang Zhiliang (张之亮) fromHong Kong became the target of public attack. In fact, there were bad signs even before the movie hits the screen. Zhang Zhiliang refused to attend the press conference because the film was cut in length by producer without asking for the permission of the director. Nevertheless, according to media, the 90-minute-long movie could still get rid of another 30 minutes. While directors from Taiwan become popular in mainland China, Hong Kong directors’ commercial value is in doubt, considering several not so successful films. But the ultimate question is whether the director should be responsible for the box office.

1.1 yuan

The cheapest movie ticket ever bought through group purchase. The original price for a movie ticket at Shenyang Yongle Cinema was 85 yuan. And with the ticket came a 50% discount coupon and a 46-ounce bucket of popcorn. You could come at any time for any movie. There was a time when your friend from America told you that movie tickets were far cheaper there than in China. Even during the period of global economic recession, the price of movie tickets was still skyrocketing in China. Thanks to group purchase, the discount could be as high as 80%. Now the moviegoers benefit from the low price, then who is suffering? It is neither the group purchase websites to which the purchase turns into profits, nor the cinemas to which it is actually a quick way to be known. In the end, I guess it is the producers that suffer most, whose revenue always comes from the floor price.

1 accident

In the early evening hours on October 27, an accident occurred during filming of Second Unit Stunt Sequences of The Expendables 2 on Lake Ognyanovo, Bulgaria. This resulted in one fatality and one serious injury of stuntmen on the Second Unit set. The Chinese stuntman Liu Kun (刘坤) from Shanxi died at the age of 26. The accident happened due to an unexpected explosion when Liu Kun and the other stuntmen were on a nearby rubber boat. Liu’s family was grieved at the loss of the young man and Liu would have come home two weeks later. While Hollywood big stars may attract attention when they get involved in scandals or fights, the stuntmen are easier to be ignored by the public than the background crowd. In the early years when Kongfu films from Hong Kong were in a full swing, there was even a vicious habit of judging the film by how many stuntmen died during the shooting. Those days have gone way behind, but the status quo of these special actors is worse still. They usually have to take the fatal risks in their fleeting career. It becomes often that we see the line “Not a single horse has been hurt for the film”. Should we establish a special celebrity system to honor them?

4 Hollywood stars

In 2011, there were four Hollywood stars showing up in Chinese movies. They are Sam Neill in The Dragon Pearl, Hugh Jackman in Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Guy Pearce in 33 Postcards, and Christian Bale in The Flowers of War. If we go back to the year 2001, it is easy to find that Chinese audience then was really not that that into Hollywood faces. However, in 2006 the show-up of Tom Cruise in Xitang attracted large scale of coverage and just by standing on the Great Wall Will Smith and his family generated a tsunami in China. Arguably the importance of Chinese market is increasingly growing. With lower cost, China has much more to be explored than America. And what is more, we will see Kevin Spacey, Keanu Reeves, Adrien Brody, and Tim Robbins etc. in next year’s Chinese movies.

9

Another 9 directors have made it into the Million Club in 2011. There are five less than last year and the power of the director is weakening. It is that marketing methods that have become the major drive of a movie. Some chose to go with the festive atmosphere of the Spring Festival and some chose to tap the opportunity of special holidays, such as Eternal Moment on Valentine’s Day and Love is Not Blind on the centurial Bachelor’s Day (2011/11/11). In this way, the power of director has been reduced to the second place.

41 days

The movie The Piano in a Factory has been shown in cinemas for only 41 days for the first round. Only several hundreds thousand viewers went to see it in cinema. The reason may be that the audience has become numb with various kinds of overseas award titles or that its being too artistic has driven the audience away. In the end, the theory of “gold will glitter after all” did not work here. In the criticism circle, however, critics all spoke highly of the movie and there was profound study on the artistic creation of the film, such as the cinematography and setting coordination, art and the background metaphor, the mood and spiritual belief etc. Even Cui Yongyuan (崔永元) praised it as a sincere film. However, its sincerity was received with indifference, corresponding to the current society. It is embarrassing that a good movie suffers from the box office failure. Some raised the questions that whether there should be a specific kind of cinema for artistic films and that how small-budget independent films find a place in the market. Should good movies be confined to the elite circle and stay away from cultural noise or let the audience have their own understanding? Like the status quo of the country, it moves on with conflicts.

200 million

It is the total amount of Warner Brothers’ investment for its annual blockbuster for 2012—1942. It has been a wish of director Feng Xiaogang (冯小刚) for 18 years—longer than Aftershock. The first reading of the script goes back to 1993 and in 2000 Feng Xiaogang received a budget of 30 million RMB from the producer (a huge amount of money back then). The shooting was disrupted three times during the years. Taking the inflation into consideration, the budget has been doubled three times during the years with later revision and the joining of two Academy winners from Hollywood. If we refer to the director’s previous Assembly and Aftershock, we will find they both had issues of overspending and delay. The 200 million might just be a starting price and it is a well-deserved budget for an oblivious national disaster. 1942 tells a story of 300 thousand people who died of starvation during the migration when a drought hit Henan in 1942. The word “remembering” was taken away from the original title “Remembering 1942”, possibly avoiding being too sentimental. It is hard to say whether audience will receive free tissues outside the cinema as a hint that the movie will be emotion stirring like they did for Aftershock. Undoubtedly, 1942 will be attracting most attention in next year’s cinemas.

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On his Sina weibo account, Qiao Xiaodao (乔小刀) introduces himself simply as “a very amiable person”, but there is far more than that when it comes to his life experiences. His stories can make a good read. A welder when he first came to Beijing, he started his pursuit of dream in a dark basement, like most of the other drifters in Beijing. Starting from there, he has staged an installation exhibition with the waste materials he had collected, become an art editor, started his own design company, formed a band and released a well-received album etc. What a colorful resume! He has made fortunes as well as suffered from bankruptcy that brought him back to the basement.

Not only a dream seeker, Qiao is to most people a dream maker. He loves music, so he formed a band with his niece and released an album. He is interested in creative designs and products so he held individual exhibitions. He is devoted to helping others so he initiated the program “Weibo Zhi Yan” (微薄之盐, A Pinch of Salt) to support independent young musicians. Many found his experiences interesting and he has inspired people to join him. While Qiao’s stories appeal to more people, they start to encourage more dreamers.

Do not let money keep you from pursuing dream

“What the future looks like? I do not want to know. “–from a song written by one of Qiao’s friends

Like many others, Qiao has a lot of dreams. Also like many others, he has money concerns. In his book “Live A Good Life is Not Necessarily Expensive” (好的生活没那么贵), he wrote in the preface, “Money is the biggest obstacle when one is to start a business or plan to do something. How to lower the cost, save the time and human resources? Only by changing the set thinking pattern and knowing clearly where one’s strengths and resources lie can one find the nearest and most plausible path. Through pooling resources and execution, one can gradually grasp the dream in hands during the process of practice.” When Qiao took the first step toward his dream, he only had 400 yuan and his ID card. He got on a train heading for Beijing. The idea that sent him to Beijing was “Now that I am suffering at home, why not go suffering in the best place in China?” And in his mind, the best place in China is Beijing—the capital.

The early days in Beijing were not easy for someone who had such a meager amount of money. To survive in the capital, he had to take on various jobs as a manual laborer to keep life going on. For Qiao, the best way for him to realize dreams was knowledge. He took every job as an opportunity to learn new things and gain experience. Once he became skilled at one job, he turned to a more difficult one. He used to copy what aroused his interests in the bookstore onto a notebook and took it everywhere. It was the books on installation and abstract art that attracted him most. He was enormously impressed with art works made from wasted materials and he found those reminiscent of what he did everyday. Later he started collecting all the materials that could not be used anymore and study installation and abstract art at the same time. With his efforts, he came up with the idea of an exhibition showing all his works at the end of that year. His friends became the audience, among which were some underground musicians in Beijing. Although he did not stick to art in his career path due to economic concerns, it was a beginning of his artistic pursuits in various forms and brought him the courage and confidence to do something big.

Another possibility: to live a good life without too much money

Sometimes all one needs is to think out of the box and explore unusual ways to approach one’s dream.

It is true that one does need money to get things started, but it does not always have to be a large sum. With only 400 yuan, Qiao survived in Beijing and started his new life. Just like the art exhibition on which he spent only 500 yuan, his other achievement were as well low-cost and jaw-dropping. It is all about the pooling of resources and best use of what one already has.  His records include 3000 yuan for a documentary, 500 yuan for an art exhibition, 50 yuan for an outfit, and 35 yuan for a dinner for ten, etc. He became a living example to those who take adequate wealth as the prerequisite for a happy life.

Qiao Xiaodao and his niece

Among all his different identities, one of the most known is the ballad singer who formed the ballad group with his niece—Da Qiao Xiao Qiao (大乔小乔, Big Qiao, Small Qiao). Music has always been one of his loves and he particularly likes watching people playing guitar. He certainly hoped to sing for others with his own guitar. The first thing was to get to know about music. His more than 200 fragments of composition suggested how difficult it was for an outsider to do music. After several failed attempts to form a band with some of his friends, he stopped trying and decided to go solo for the moment. Later when Qiao performed for his family, his mother suggested that his little niece Qiao Munan (乔木楠) sings with him and this was how the group came into being.

After several performances, the group got famous and people started to ask for their album. The biggest challenge they were facing was where the money came from. Qiao Xiaodao made up his mind to make an album hoping to explore a way for other independent musicians who were struggling to stick to their music dreams and to attract more support. Thanks to his friends in the music circle, he managed to finish the recording of the whole album in a one-square-meter studio and the music video was also self-made, simple and rough. All the family members helped in the process of making the album. It was the success of such a simple album that led to the later more ambitious project.

Weibo Zhi Yan (微薄之盐)—A pinch of salt

Weibo stands for “small”; Yan stands for contribution and Weibo Zhi Yan stands for “a small contribution”.

The idea of “Weibo Zhi Yan” came from that Qiao wanted to help others but he knew well that his ability was limited. So he came up with such a name for his project. Supported by some of the entrepreneurs he became acquainted with, Qiao started to build the platform he had always been thinking of to pool resources to help independent musicians like him. Based in an art zone turned from a storage house, he found some friends and hired new hands. In this way the platform was established and Qiao and his people started to scout for talented musicians. The way the project works is that it help young musicians to achieve their goals such as releasing an album with the social network it has built. For example, it may introduce musicians to producers and publishers who are possible to provide support. They provide resources as well as show them how to tap into opportunities for long-term development.

Following the traditional Chinese philosophy that “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”, the project works towards the ultimate goal to help independent musicians to stand firm on their own feet and find their own paths. Qiao and his friends also made a project magazine to let more people get to know about it and attract more support from the society. As the project grows, so does the need for an even bigger platform. With an idea to provide these musicians a stage to shine, the Weibo Zhi Yan concert kicked off. Weibo Zhi Yan concert welcomes all kinds of music styles and is open to whoever is interested with a low threshold. Qiao compares Weibo Zhi Yan to a public lavatory where people from all walks of life come by. Strangers meet here and make friends. People come and go, leaving different stories.

One leg of his nationwide tour in Renmin University of China

As he thinks that money cannot stops one from pursuing one’s dream, Qiao also thinks that finance is not the prerequisite for non-profit initiatives. From a commoner to someone who helps people realize their dreams, Qiao lives a colorful as well as simple life. His life philosophy of thinking out of the box and use the ready resources to do things we want inspires the following of us to look back on our own dreams that have been postponed for various excuses. Now with his guitar, Qiao Xiaodao is busy meeting his fans in different cities for his 2012 A Inspirational Tour around China (2012励志中国行) and sharing his stories with them. Engaged to helping others with his limited power, Qiao Xiaodao and his stories might shed some light to those who also have big dreams but have not taken any actions yet.

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It has come to a time when both film critics and fans started drawing up their own rankings of the best movies in their hearts by various standards. Some say that the story should come first and the technique second; some are big fans of dazzling special effects. According to one of them, there are good movies but no bad ones, only movies of bad quality. A good movie should first have a compelling story, such as the top three on the IMDB list—The Shawshank Redemption, Godfather II and Inception. A good story makes a good movie. But when the story is not so good, there is still room for technical breakthroughs and innovations. A movie is still worth watching if it can bring the audience visual and audio enjoyment, such as Avatar and Titanic by James Cameron.

Here are our list of important films that define the 2011 Chinese film industry.

1. Buddha Mountain

Directed by: Li Yu (李玉)

In a small county in Sichuan, there were three lost young people. They were Nanfeng (Fan Bingbing 范冰冰) who had a troubled family, Ding Bo (Chen Bolin 陈柏霖) who did not get along with his father and Feizao (Feilong 肥龙) who was not able feel any warm from his rich family. They lived together in a rented house. The landlady (Zhang Aijia 张艾嘉) had a tough life and bickering kept happening. Gradually the three loners found comfort in each other.

The movie tells a story of time which has something to do with youth and wandering, helplessness and strays, life and ideals. There are families and friends other than a major romance. Different plots are connected in a clear logic with each other. From the movie we see the director Li Yu’s sincerity and great courage to confront life by means of cinematography.

2. Love for Life

Directed by: Gu Chang Wei (顾长卫）

A peaceful village was suddenly shrouded by the terror of the malignant HIV. One of the villagers Zhao Deyi (Guo Fucheng 郭富城) was infected and soon got ostracized; he was later sent to an abandoned primary school with other virus carriers. Instead of feeling for each other, they constantly had conflicts. A gloomy air had permeated through the temporary ward. Then another patient Qinqin (Zhang Ziyi 章子怡) showed up and soon fell in love with Deyi. The relationship was not at all blessed, not even accepted, but the young couple loved each other till the very end of their life.

Director Gu Changwei used an all-star cast this time under the pressure of commercialized film industry. Though not as good as his previous Peacock and And the Spring Comes, Love for Life still stands out against a background of an overall suffering quality of domestic films.

3. KORA

Directed by: Du Jiayi (杜家毅）

Adapted from a bestseller by the same name, it records the journey of the author Xie Wanglin (谢旺霖) who has ridden more than 2,000 kilometers to Tibet. Such a wandering story in pursuit of freedom has drawn many young people. During his journey of more than 2,000 kilometers, riding had become as familiar as eating and he had been on the brink of death for several times. He only spent a total of about 1,300 yuan along the whole journey.

KORA tells an extremely simple story. There are not many techniques other than sharp montages. However, the story is enough to touch people with the young director Du Jiayi’s sincerity and a totally strange cast.

4. The Piano in a Factory

Directed by: Zhang Meng (张猛)

In a northeaster city of heavy industry in early 1990s, Chen Guilin (Wang Qianyuan 王千源) who had been laid off by the factory formed a band himself and barely made ends meet by performing in weddings, funerals and opening ceremonies. His wife Xiaoju (Zhang Shenying 张申英) left him for a rich businessman who sold fake drugs. She even wanted to have their daughter back. Suffering from his own failure, Guilin set up his mind to buy his daughter a piano so he could have her with him and he even thought of stealing. After running into a Russian book on piano, he started to make piano by himself at a dilapidated factory with his friends.

From production to casting to technique, every section of the film is quite local and “close to the earth”. A down-to-earth movie can make the audience extremely uncomfortable during the process of watching. Unlike the two most popular kinds of movie of today—commercial blockbusters and thrillers, the audience would curse while they watch and mourn for their not so fat wallets at the same time.

5. Starry Starry Night

Directed by: Lin Shuyu (林书宇)

The 13-year-old girl Xie Xinmei (Xu Jiao 徐娇) lived with her grandpa in a remote mountain. She had a strong attachment to the wooden house and the quiet night sky. One day she had to return to city life with her parents. The cosmopolitan life could not bring her the sense of belonging. Xiaomei made friends with a boy named Zhou Yujie (Lin Huimin 林晖闵) who shared the experience of constant moving. After her parents broke up, Xiaomei decided to go back to the mountain for the starry night with her new friend.

This is a rare Chinese film that features aestheticism. Being aesthetic easily leads to unrealistic. But Starry Starry Night has overcome the problem and the two young actor and actress have done a very good job.

6. Cribug

Directed by: Wang Chuan (王川)

Cribug was a huge mistake of the universe. It was the mission and glory of warriors from both earth and heaven to destroy Cribug every 333 years. In the year 1664 of Cribug era, heavenly deities tried to destroy the sixth generation of Cribug with nuclear weapons but failed. Soon after realizing that the Cribug was still alive, warriors were recruited to irradiate Cribug. At the same time, in the faraway Wowo County, the two monsters Manji and Mandaren were disturbing the villagers’ life greatly.

There have been not a few domestic animations in 2011 with both big and small productions. Unfortunately most of them have lost their investments. Cribug with a medium investment did not recoup the money it had spent by the box office. The movie went off the screen several days after its debut. Nevertheless, most of those who have seen it spoke highly of it and its online rating went above 8. It was indeed a rare good two-dimensional movie in recent years and has filled the gap of domestic hot-blooded movies.

7. My Garden of Eden

Directed by: Sun Xian (孙宪)

The documentary recounts the process of how a black-tailed gull was born and grew up. The gull suffered from the death of its father, brother and at last its mother and became an orphan. In the process it struggled between life and death. Black-tailed gull is a species of seabird along the eastern coast of Asia. They choose the lone islands in the waters of northeastern Asia to breed.

It is the first movie about bird ecosystem in China which was produced by three amateur moviemakers from Weihai, Shandong who spent 7 years on the island. During last year’s Cologne Movie Festival in Germany in September, My Garden of Eden stood out among more than 100 movies and won the award of “People’s Choice” and it won the “Best Documentary” of this year’s Golden Rooster Awards. The hardships of making such a film could be seen on their weathered faces.

8. Wu Xia

Directed by: Chen Kexin (陈可辛)

In 1917, in the LiuVillage in southwestern China, Liu Jinxi (Zhen Zidan 甄子丹) and his wife A Yu (Tang Wei 汤唯) had two sons Fangzheng and Xiaotian. The family led a peaceful life until one day a stranger came to the village. They looted the village and were accidentally killed by Jinxi. Since one of the looters was wanted by the government, Jinxin was awarded as a big hero. However, all of these aroused suspicion of another man Xu Baijiu (Jin Chengwu 金城武) who was a cop. Having found out that the two looters were killed by some kung-fu master, Xu started his investigation and Jinxi’s real identity began to come to the surface.

The biggest characteristic of this year’s movie market is that domestic commercial blockbusters all suffer unexpected setbacks. In this light, Wu Xia directed by Chen Kexin is quite precious which barely passed the test. Moreover, with its novel method, traditional Chinese kung-fu movies have been enriched.

9. Love is Not Blind

Directed by: Teng Huatao (滕华涛)

High-end wedding planner Huang Xiaoxian (Bai Baihe 白百何) could never believe that her boyfriend who she had been together with for seven years hooked up with her best friend. Huang found this unacceptable but did not let it take her down. She bravely coped with the pressure from both work and the failed relationship. Free of relationship, she started to see things other than romance, such as the sissy colleague Wang Xiaojian (Wen Zhang 文章) who had always been her enemy. During the 33 days, she gradually realized that her Mr. Right was just there beside her.

According to Meng Jinghui (孟京辉), the famous director, it is a comedy, but it is not funny. The seemingly not-serious and comical movie addresses to those who are like Huang Xiaoxian and Wang Xiaojian. They still stick to their love ideals in such a grave and chaotic time.

10. The Flowers of War

Directed by: Zhang Yimou (张艺谋)

In Nanking of 1937, the atrocious Japanese army had devastated the city. An international church remained a harbor and the clergy offered refuge for a group of women college students from Jinling (金陵, Nanjing at that time), 12 prostitutes from the Qinhuaihe River who came to escape the war, and 6 soldiers of the national army who climbed out of dead bodies. In confrontation with the massacre, it was the 13 prostitutes who became heroines to protect the students. The Japanese army finally took over the church and was about to take away the college students. The 13 prostitutes who were deemed the lower class of society stood out to go to the celebration party held by Japanese army in replacement of female students. Dressed in student uniforms with hiding scissors inside, they went to the fatal date.

Adapted from a novel by Yan Geling(严歌苓) by the same title, Zhang Yimou’s The Flower of War tells a story during the ghastly Nanjing massacre. A collaborated production of the East and the West, the film is by far the most expensive Chinese movie. It stars the Academy Award winner Christian Bale as the American mortician and several new faces even in China as the group of convent students and prostitutes. Intended to have broad international appeal, the movie has been lauded by most viewers as the director’s best work so far.

With the Chinese Spring Festival just around the corner, it is sure that there will soon be another round of fierce competition in the market of the New Year’s film. While another bunch of films waits to hit the screen, the Festival will be a huge feast for cinema-goers.

sources:

http://ent.qq.com/zt2011/number/index.htm?pgv_ref=aio2012&ptlang=2052

http://news.china.com.cn/rollnews/2011-12/09/content_11651576.htm

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