Chapter 316: Innocent Child
Next to the wood carving is a small piece of text engraved in seal script.
This is a short essay titled "Innocence". The writing of some characters in it is very different from today's writing. Not only the TV viewers can't understand it, but also several judges who are not good at seal characters can't understand it.
So Cheng Zikun, the seal script judge, read it carefully first, and then read it to the other judges, "The child has a nest, built a hut beside a banyan tree, the grass is overgrown and the trees are lost, the thatched door has old rafters, the green pavilion has nothing to see, the webworms weave hundreds of lines..."
After reading the whole article, the 10 judges probably understood that this short essay described the home of an innocent child. Her home was built next to a banyan tree, with grass covering the threshold. The door was broken, the windows were dark blue, and you couldn't see outside. There were spider webs everywhere...
The content complements Liu Lan's small paintings. The article has a strong Han Dynasty prose style, with retro and simple wording, and is concise and powerful.
Her carving skills are quite profound. Unlike other woodcarvers on the scene who are meticulous in their carving, each of her strokes is very casual. She does not look back once she starts carving, and controls the strength just right. For her, there is no difference between carving with a knife and writing on paper with a brush.
The judges of the engraving group carefully looked at her engravings with a magnifying glass and marveled at them. It would be impossible to achieve such smooth wood engraving without years of practice.
But then again, the characters are well carved, the small paintings are interesting, the writing is good, and the overall layout is beautiful, but what does this have to do with "Han style"? ?
Chen Jianqiu couldn't help but ask the question on everyone's mind.
...
...
Liu Lan explained, "Last Friday, Zhou Budai and I went to the Weiyang Palace Film and Television Base, which has completely restored the former Weiyang Palace. From the magnificent palace, I seemed to be able to see the monarch's arrival, the officials' pilgrimage, and the dignified and beautiful concubines chatting and laughing at the banquet. But such a life is too far away from us. Even now, how many people can live such a luxurious and extravagant life? I think the 'Han style' not only includes the glory and prosperity of the Han Dynasty, but also the style of ordinary people."
Another judge asked, "So, what did you see about the living environment of this little kid at the film and television base?"
Liu Lan shook her head. "This is what I imagined. I thought there must be a dark and ugly side to the Weiyang Palace, but I walked all over the film and television base and found nothing. The experts and architects restored the beautiful side of the palace, but they forgot that there were even more "lower people" in the palace. They might be low-ranking slaves, eunuchs, felons in the prison, or abandoned concubines in the cold palace. So, I imagined that I was a child living in a corner of the palace. My home had blue opaque windows, doors with blurred patterns, rafters with gilded rafters falling off, and dry grass dried by the sun..."
Liu Lan's words convinced the judges, but also caused a storm of emotion in Yu Zhan. He had some doubts before, but now he was 100% sure that Liu Lan was the little girl. He stared at her face in disbelief, trying to find something in common between her and the little girl.
They look nothing alike.
But the tone and expression of their voices are exactly the same.
No wonder he felt that the little girl in his dream looked like Liu Lan. It was not an illusion.
Cheng Zikun said, "No wonder you wrote 'Changle and Weiyang, never forget your longing' at the end of the article. I was wondering, living in such an environment, how can one be 'Changle and Weiyang'? It turns out you meant Changle Palace and Weiyang Palace. You wrote about 'Han style' from the perspective of the lower class of the royal palace. It's a very unique idea."
Chen Jianqiu said, "It is indeed unconventional and does not follow the beaten path." The judges have pointed out that so far, other people's works have all used effusive words to praise Han Dynasty celebrities or the greatness of the Han Dynasty.
Because of Su Xuezhen's incident, Wang Qinghai, who had always been low-key and did not dare to speak casually, suddenly asked Liu Lan, "Your subject matter does not have to be woodcut. Your paintings can also be drawn with a brush. Why do you have to choose woodcut instead of paper?"
Wang Qinghai implied that Liu Lan was suspected of deliberately showing off her skills and pretending to be cool.
Chen Jianqiu, who was standing by, was annoyed with Wang Qinghai and wondered why Vice President Ouyang Cen did not cancel his qualification as a judge. Since it was a free competition, of course he had to show off his best skills. Could it be that he was pretending to be low-key and hiding his skills? Then there was no need to participate in this exhibition.
Facing Wang Qinghai's embarrassment, Liu Lan calmly said, "Because the title is 'Han Style', the lower class people in the Han Palace were very poor and usually had no access to paper. I regarded myself as this child writing and drawing. What should I do if I don't have paper? I can only use a knife to carve and draw. And I think everyone has the experience of scribbling on the table when they were young. I carve on the table, which just fits the nature of my protagonist."
Liu Man's explanation was very convincing. A judge from the seal carving group laughed and said, "So your work is the graffiti of an innocent child?"
Liu Lan nodded and said yes.
The judges whispered to each other, then wrote down their scores and comments for Liu Lan on paper and moved on to judge the next work.
After that, the judges never encountered any work that particularly interested them or was refreshing until they saw Zhou Budai's cursive calligraphy works.
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