Author: Zhang Erbin

I know that on the enamel washbasins, teapots and thermos bottles sold in department stores in the early 1960s, Mr. Li Weiqing's name was painted with shrimps from Qi Baishi, horses from Xu Beihong, flowers and birds from Chen Banding and Bai Weiqing. I only know that Li Weiqing is a painter in Nanjing. At that time, "White Li Weiqing" was a household name in Nanjing, so Li Weiqing and his Chinese painting art entered the homes of ordinary people.

Li Weiqing has experienced twists and turns, bumps and even some legends. He is an old Nanjing native, born in a scholarly family, and has been fond of painting and calligraphy since childhood. At the age of 9, he studied under Shi Chijun, a famous teacher in the late Qing Dynasty, and later under Huang Xueming, a famous teacher. He also moved to Liang, Xie Gongzhan, Magli and other famous people. Engaged in postal statistics and accounting in his early years. As early as 1935, he drafted and presided over the formulation of China's first Postal Law, and he also became the director of the State Post and Telecommunications Bureau.

After liberation, before the establishment of the Painting Academy, like most painters, he was a "part-time" adherent painter, and some were teachers, such as Zhao and Zhang. Some are freelancers, such as Xu and Hu; There are also bank employees, owners and civil servants, such as Heyun. Of course, they are all intellectuals with status, and Li Weiqing is not only proficient in his own major, but also proficient in French and English, good at painting and calligraphy, and familiar with the history and theory of painting. He has published many works such as Talking about Chinese Painting and China Painting in newspapers and periodicals, and held an exhibition of paintings with Huang Junbi in Chongqing. The famous professor said that his works were "powerful with a pen, as eloquent as Zhao's" Middle-aged Sorrow ",which shows his high evaluation. 1985, Mr. Zheng Zhenduo, then Minister of Culture of the five countries, recommended the publication of Li Weiqing Flower Atlas with Qi Baishi at the same time, which was published by international bookstores at home and abroad and was very popular, with seven consecutive reprints. Have a wide influence.

Like intellectuals in China, people from the old society always have "historical problems". Coupled with the influence of the ultra-left ideological trend, Mr. Li Weiqing suffered an "unwarranted" blow in the early 1950s, and was dismissed from public office, with no salary and no source of livelihood. His wife is a primary school teacher, earning more than 40 yuan and supporting a family of three. At this time, Li Weiqing was heartbroken and did not shed tears. "Qiu Lai is looking for a sentence, and the maple leaf sings red chrysanthemums and dyes yellow." I remember the ups and downs in the old village after the ninth day of last year. "In that stormy era, although the old man felt helpless, he was more cheerful and optimistic. He still smiles at life, is attached to Dan Qing and plays with pen and ink. Regardless of the cold and heat, I rode the company to practice boxing, read and draw, and for decades, I knocked on the ice with a frozen pen, made paper with square bricks, and made ink with clear water, and practiced the hard work of iron and silver hooks.

Painting requires pen, ink and paper. Li Weiqing works hard every day, relying only on his wife's salary and his meager manuscript fee. Money is tight. In addition to using square bricks and clear water, he also used up newspapers, windproof paper (for sticking windows) and even yellow grass paper, which is more responsive to people who come to paint with paper. He said, "Why don't you buy paper and I draw?"

When I was young, I studied painting and changed teachers. I also consulted Mr. Li and was inspired by him. Among the older generation painters I know and contact, Mr. Li Weiqing can be said to be an old man with a childlike innocence. He has no worldly wisdom and his heart is like a mirror. I often get it off my chest, and then I "offend" without knowing it.

When Jiangsu Painting Academy was founded, Mr. Li was invited to attend the symposium. He is the only painter born in Nanjing. Unexpectedly, he spoke loudly at the meeting and no one watched. Even saying it is too "jumping", too "crazy" and too "pedantic". In addition, there are "historical issues", which are obviously incompatible with the current situation. Later, Qian Songnie and pedantic school appeared in Jiangsu Painting Academy. However, there are no old painters born in Nanjing. However, Li Weiqing is a "folk painter" who is not surprised by honor and disgrace, but willing to be self-reliant.

Painters have always been divided into ruling parties and opposition parties. Because of this, he is like a wild crane in the clouds, detached from things and unrestrained, and galloping freely in his own art world.

He worships the Ivy League, the Eighth National Congress, Shi Tao, the Eight Eccentrics, Wu Changshuo and is obsessed with talking with them. At the same time, he lingers in sketching, sketching is fast and accurate, and he also writes the spirit in a freehand way, with his own unique views and methods.

There is such a thing that a big cock is kept near Li Weiqing. I have seen this rooster with a red crown and bright feathers. Magnificent, magnificent, very picturesque. Drawing a rooster every day fascinates Mr. Li. Observing its various postures and movements, I am familiar with it. Once I came back from sketching and looked a little depressed. When I asked, it turned out that the master saw an old man bite his rooster every day and killed it, because he thought it was a conspiracy. However, he has obtained several sketches. During this period, he painted a number of works with both form and spirit, and Cockfighting is the masterpiece of this period.

During the Cultural Revolution, most painters were shocked and stopped painting. At this time, Li Weiqing was left out in the cold. However, because he is the head of the neighborhood committee, he has been living in a bamboo pole in an ancient street in Shi Ping, calling himself "the man in the bamboo pole" and taking Mei Lanzhuju, the four gentlemen, as his companion. During this period, the titles of his works are meaningful. On the title of plum blossom painting "Rain sends spring home, flying snow welcomes spring"; Blue painting, "Welcome Spring for the World"; Chrysanthemum painting title "battlefield yellow flowers are particularly fragrant", bamboo painting title "spot bamboo thousand tears" Mr. Li is still a fool. On one occasion, a neighborhood Committee cadre came to plead guilty. He said that I was not engaged in fund repair, but promoting Mao Zedong Thought. That's it. Although the art world was cold and silent during the Cultural Revolution, Mr. Li was lucky to be able to paint every day while hiding in a bamboo pole. Sometimes works are titled "People's Commune is Good"; Words that are insincere, such as "Xiong Wen's Four Volumes Point to Navigation", are just a cover for painting. Now it seems that these works are particularly precious.

Years later, in this cold window, sometimes he looks up at the clouds above the patio, and the flowers in the corner are falling and painting in detachment. Hanging upside down outside the wall has nothing to do with him. It was not until the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee smashed the Gang of Four and experienced 26 years of unjust imprisonment that he felt that the world had changed and more and more people wanted to paint.

The good times didn't last long. After the policy was rehabilitated, he was probably overexcited, had a sudden cerebral hemorrhage and was in a coma for more than 20 days. When his family was preparing for the funeral, he miraculously woke up and recovered quickly and well. Like ordinary people, he can pick up the brush and draw again. A 60-year-old man turned out to be 20 years without any symptoms. The works of this period are more profound and vigorous, and their ideas have reached a supreme level.

Summer in Nanjing is as hot as a stove. One day, I went to visit Li Lao. I saw him playing chess with an old neighbor with bare arms under a big tree by the river in front of his house. Li is always a chess master. He played chess with a broken banana fan in one hand. Look at his concentration, it's like a "two-old game map". Looking at him, I felt a pang of sadness. I am over 80 years old and have painted tens of thousands of works in my life. Almost all Nanjing folk painting and calligraphy lovers have Mr. Li's works. It can be said that "Li Weiqing's paintings are everywhere". And he is still so poor, I discussed with his daughter and asked her to accompany Li Lao to the hotel for the summer, but he wanted to go home for half a day. I understand that Li Lao has been used to a cold and dull life in quiet inside for decades. He lives a quiet and contented life, asking nothing of the world and others.

The ancients called the painter "the top of the rice", "Ni's pedantry" and "infatuation", and so did the painter's true temperament. The more sophisticated the place, the more witty it is, and the less elegant it is. Therefore, the temperament of an unruly and pedantic person is closest to painting. "fame and fortune are impatient, and true painting is not good; Although the work will not be very elegant. " Mr. Li Weiqing knows human feelings, but he doesn't know the world. He is good at painting and calligraphy, not seeking fame and fortune. If he wants to paint, he can't paint any more. If he paints, he wants to be happy and make others happy. He often writes the title "It's quite enjoyable to play a few games" in his paintings. "Letter and pen come, regardless of gains and losses"; "Bite the roots of vegetables, Pepsi can do it." His painting purpose is simple and clear, which embodies Li Weiqing's sincerity, character, spirit, realm and peace of mind as an artist. In his game pen and ink works, there are many amazing immortal works.

Fortunately, in his last days, at a pen meeting, we met again at Song Ziwen Building in Nanjing Arctic Pavilion. He happily wrote me a pair of couplets, "Wind and rain are the main roads, and dust is affectionate." Unexpectedly, a few days later, he really left quietly with a lifetime of turmoil and half-life dust, so serene and calm, without disturbing anyone.

Pen and ink temperament

-Re-understanding of individualized creation of Chinese painting.

Text/Zhang Erbin

Personality is the expression of people's understanding, cognition and behavior of objective things, especially for artistic creation. As a spiritual activity, painting art loses its aesthetic value without individuality, and there is no real art at all.

We often say that "painting is like a person", painting style is people, painting style is me, and "I" is personality. The creation of artistic style is the embodiment of artist's personality. However, affirming the individuality factor in artistic creation cannot deny its social attribute, but should be the unity of subjective and objective, that is to say, individuality exists in commonness and is embodied in commonness.

Paintings in Tang Dynasty and Song and Yuan Dynasties, as well as paintings in Song and Yuan Dynasties and Ming and Qing Dynasties, all have remarkable characteristics of the times. Yuan Sijia's paintings and Ming Sijia's paintings, the Eight Eccentrics in Yangzhou and the Eight Schools in Jinling, and even the Jinling School today all have their own characteristics of the times. However, due to Confucian ideological tendency, personality traits, cultural accomplishment, life experience and teacher-student relationship. There are differences in various aspects such as means of expression, and the understanding and judgment of real life and artistic expression are bound to be different. This difference is the difference in understanding and subjective expression of objective things, and this difference is personality.

Artistic creation is a thinking process with strong emotional color. A painter's style of painting cannot be static, nor can he have only one face. In the long-term study and creation process, there are not only works that pay attention to learning and drawing lessons from traditional techniques, but also works that boldly learn and express themselves; There are works with similar styles, and there are also works that are constantly changing and innovating. I especially emphasize the painter's pen and ink temperament, which is a tool and a skill, and has become the standard for appreciating Chinese painting. Temperament is the embodiment of the painter's thoughts, feelings and self-cultivation realm, pen and ink are the necessary conditions for every painter, and the embodiment and difference of personality lies in the painter's temperament. I think freehand brushwork is the aesthetic character and pursuit of Chinese painting, and it is the highest embodiment and realm. Pen and ink expresses "writing" and "temperament" expresses "meaning". Every painter has certain pen and ink skills and techniques, and everyone is different, such as the use of dotted lines. The pen and ink form of Chinese painting has the human characteristic factor of "I", which is the main expression of the artist's artistic skills and personal unique style.

The development of personality needs innovative spirit. I think the performance of personality lies in "changeability", and the unchangeable personality means no personality. Change needs ability and courage, change is inheritance and development, change is the display and embodiment of personality, and change is new, new and beautiful. When we talk about "innovation", we should also talk about "creating Excellence" because society calls for new masterpieces.

In short, Chinese painting itself has its own personality. Chinese painting, as a cultural form in China, is bound to contain China's humanistic spirit. With its independent and uninhibited personality, it has always continued its traditional development and has not been replaced by other national arts, which also proves that this pursuit is scientific and vital in artistic creation.

Listening to music and painting is a feast for the eyes. Black, pink and painters are in harmony.

Text/Zhang Erbin

The profound cultural heritage of Kunqu Opera nourishes the traditional culture and art of the Chinese nation. The academic seminar on Kunqu Opera held by Jiangsu Institute of Culture and Art is a groundbreaking academic research, which is of great significance. It is not only beneficial to the study of Kunqu opera, but also useful for other traditional cultures and arts. I am a painter of traditional Chinese painting, and I have a deep understanding of the influence of Kunqu opera in my painting practice. From the title of this article, I can think that I am enjoying Kunqu opera. So, I wrote a limerick on my own feelings and understanding as follows:

The moon is bright and the clouds are light, and the sound is clear with pictures. There is a new artist on the stage. Lin Chi is a water mill. Writing is like reading and singing, but it also involves splashing ink. Wu Dai is comfortable with long sleeves, singing and dancing, singing and dancing, and listening to songs and painting for fun. Originally, it was the same as Dan Qing and Heifen.

This is my feeling and wonderful understanding as a painter who has loved Kunqu opera for many years.

The first Kunqu opera I came into contact with was the movie Fifteen Levels. Although I didn't know much about dialects at that time, I thought it was novel, especially for the actors' performances. It is very exaggerated and freehand, but it is also very reasonable and true. 1983, attended the concert held by professional actors and amateur Kunqu fans in Mochou Lake. Unexpectedly, several Kunqu masters came, including Wang, Shen Chuanzhi, Ni Chuanyue, and Lin, who was still a young actor at that time. Since then, I have formed an indissoluble bond with Kunqu Opera. During the period of 1987, Nanjing Shizhuzhai resumed and celebrated its 360th anniversary. I am in charge of the art research department. After the meeting, Zhang Zhidie, Shi Xiaomei and Grain Rain from the Provincial Kunqu Theatre were invited to sing, which was highly praised by experts and scholars at home and abroad. They said: I didn't expect Nanjing to retain such an authentic traditional culture. With the step-by-step understanding of Kunqu opera, my love for Kunqu opera is growing day by day, and I gradually feel that Kunqu opera has a subtle effect on my painting creation. My painting focuses on the display of pen and ink and temperament. Pen and ink express "writing" and temperament expresses "meaning". Freehand brushwork is the aesthetic character and pursuit of Chinese painting, and it is the highest form and realm of Chinese painting. Although painting is a space art and drama is a time art, the function of painting is to create space, and the function of drama is to use space, while my painting focuses on using space, which is the result of influence. Relatively speaking, opera actors not only make full use of the space on the stage, but also create performance space for themselves. The two are complementary. After reading Zhang's Crazy Dream, New Xia Feng said, "The whole stage is a play when one person is present." "Freehand brushwork" provides China painters and dramatists with unlimited space to show their individuality and talents.

Kunqu Opera and Chinese painting are both excellent traditional cultures in China, with the same aesthetic character and taste. Righteousness, macro, clarity and elegance are my pursuit of Chinese painting aesthetics. Product is the essence of aesthetics; Tolerance is an aesthetic temperament, and tolerance is great; Elegance is aesthetic taste; Cleanliness is an aesthetic mentality. Kunqu opera has these aesthetic characteristics.

Ni Yunlin (Ni Zan), a great painter in the Yuan Dynasty, became friends with Gu Jian, a great lyricist, and knew the way of lyrics. Xu Wei (Ivy), a great painter in the Ming Dynasty, recorded that "Nanqu plays flute and sings pipa according to the festival", and Wen Zhiming once uploaded a copy of Nanqu in Zhang Guangde's Authentic Daily. In the volume Qupin in the Ming Dynasty, 25 people wrote Sanqu without making legends.

Among the six methods of Chinese painting first put forward by Nanqi, "vivid spirit" is the first meaning, which I understand as "qi" respectively: it refers to the painter's style, tolerance, temperament and breath, which is embodied in thought, morality and academic accomplishment. The same is true of traditional opera performances in China. The so-called audience watching the play, the stage watching the gas. "Rhyme" is the rhythm, rhythm, style, artistic conception and emotion of a work, which is more direct for a dramatist. "Life" refers to the painter's profound knowledge, feeling and understanding of endless and incomparably rich nature, as well as his profound life foundation, which is equally important to China traditional operas. "Motion" is the function and vitality of motion expressed in living works, as well as its value and position in history, which promotes inheritance and development and serves as a link between the past and the future.

The beauty of Kunqu lies not only in singing and dancing, but also in the beauty of pictures. On the stage of Kunqu opera performance, no matter from which angle, it is a beautiful picture without labor and cutting. After a Swiss painter skillfully painted a flying horse with pen and ink, he said with great emotion: Although there are differences between eastern and western painting, Chinese painting contains all the principles and techniques of eastern and western painting. The performing arts of Kunqu Opera have also exerted a wide and far-reaching influence on Chinese and foreign opera arts.

Artistic environment and artistic atmosphere are very important for success, and it is also a choice for me. I rely on my unique way of thinking and my knowledge and understanding of China culture to create my own cultural atmosphere and artistic environment. So I have a soft spot for Kunqu opera and guqin. "Every time I paint, I have to listen to music, which is not only good to listen to, but also addictive" has become a habit in my life. I like the "lifelong hobby" pursued by Du Liniang in The Peony Pavilion. The artistic conception of "the moon is bright and the clouds are pale and the flowers are blooming" and "the leaves are startled and the dreams are broken" in the Jade Hairpin, and the beautiful rhythm of the combination of reality and reality, with appropriate shades, ups and downs, often makes people feel that when painting, using pen and ink has a superb pleasure and is immersed in the realm of "half in the river and half in the clouds".

Kunqu Opera is the oldest opera in China and even in the world, with a long history and cultural tradition. It is called the three oldest dramas in the world together with ancient Greek drama and Brahma drama in India. However, the ancient Greek drama produced in the 5th century BC and the Indian Brahma drama produced in the 2nd century BC have long since disappeared and withdrawn from the historical stage. In China, Kunqu Opera has completely retained the form of stage performance and is listed as "oral and intangible cultural heritage of mankind" by UNESCO. Among the three major painting schools in the world, the figurative school, the imagist school and the abstract school, the form and aesthetic feeling of Chinese painting are dominated by the unique philosophical thought of harmony between man and nature and the traditional aesthetics and habits of the Chinese nation. They are not completely influenced by the western figurative and abstract painting style, but take the road of "image", which is an aesthetic realm in which Chinese painting conforms to and transcends nature. Kunqu opera and traditional Chinese painting have always gone their own way and have not been replaced by other arts. An important factor with such strong vitality is that Kunqu opera and Chinese painting have strong inheritance and freehand brushwork. Technically, we should pay attention to procedures, rules, skills, organization and leisurely performance. In the past 600 years, Kunqu opera has experienced ups and downs, but it has been growing and famous artists have come forth in large numbers. With its unique charm and tenacious vitality, Kunqu Opera will always be a bright star in the traditional culture of the Chinese nation.

Kunqu opera, like Chinese painting, has also encountered the problems of tradition and modernity, inheritance and innovation. There is no doubt that inheriting tradition is the first priority. Of course, classic culture is not about its audience, but about its recipients. Kunqu opera is a classic, so it is a minority culture. The public is entertainment. It is the minority culture that often leads the cultural trend.

There is no distinction between new and old, advanced and backward culture. I thought that if innovation was the only standard, there would be no standard. "Innovation" and the result of "innovation" are uncertain, "innovation" is not necessarily successful, and "innovation" is not necessarily the best. Culture can only be divided into superior and inferior, classic and dross. Are Tang Poetry and Song Poetry New or Old? Are the Dream of Red Mansions and Peony Pavilion new or old? Is The Analects of Confucius advanced or backward? All cultures passed down through the test of history are classics, and future generations should cherish and cherish them. Although the so-called "cultures" that have no origin and lack a sense of national culture can make trouble for a while, they will eventually die out. Faced with the disturbance of market economy, it is indeed a choice and test whether artists can keep a clear head, eliminate interference and adhere to their independent creative personality and mentality in the real society dominated by officials and businessmen. So we need to know what tradition is. For us, predecessors and their classic works are traditions and mountains. What they left us is not only cultural heritage, but also wealth and resources, which is the immortal national cultural spirit and development history. We should always have reverence and gratitude for the mountains. Our responsibility can only be to plant trees on this mountain to make the green hills more leafy, and we must never cut them down indiscriminately. We should also leave a green cultural and ecological environment for our future generations. What is modern? Modern is not a high-rise building, a highway, a dog or a horse, but a return to nature, a return to nature, a kindness to tradition, a kindness to life, a kindness to nature, and a harmonious coexistence with nature, instead of blindly transforming and defeating nature. In the colorful real life, we should pursue a true, perfect, beautiful and supreme modern cultural spirit, complete the unique form, style and lofty beauty of our nation with a high sense of responsibility, national self-esteem, self-confidence and self-improvement, with elegant demeanor and immortal pen and ink.

Zhang Erbin's mustard garden complex

Text/Xiaojiang

Zhang Erbin, a famous painter, joined NLD on 1986. He was elected as a member of the Standing Committee of Nanjing Municipal Committee of NLD and a representative of Nanjing Municipal People's Congress, and now works for a cultural company in Shizhuzhai, Nanjing. As a cultural worker, Zhang Erbin has not only made great achievements, but also is full of enthusiasm for Nanjing's cultural construction. Since 12, he has been running for the restoration and construction of Jinling mustard seed garden and making selfless contributions.

Mustard Garden is a famous garden in Jinling, which is famous at home and abroad because of Li Yu and his Biography of Mustard Garden in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. Li Yu (1611680) is a famous dramatist and drama theorist. He is good at novels and operas, and also has high attainments in gardening art. Among the many gardens he built in his life, the mustard garden built when 1665 lived in Jinling was the best. Mustard Garden, with its superb gardening art and ingenious gardening techniques, occupies an important position in the history of China gardens. Many of his works, such as Silent Games, Family Talk and Random Stories, were completed in mustard seed orchard, where he spent the most glorious period of his life. After Li Yu moved to Hangzhou, the mustard garden changed hands several times and finally disappeared. By the early years of the Republic of China, it was already a vegetable garden. Now, as the former site of mustard seed garden? d？ D tiger head of Zhonghua Gate? d？ D is a high-rise building with no trace to be found.

After years of investigation and study on Li Yu and Mustard Garden, Zhang Erbin came up with an idea to restore the Mustard Garden: to develop and utilize Nanjing's historical and cultural resources, and to build Li Yu Cultural Garden with Jinling Mustard Garden as the main body to receive domestic and foreign guests, as a place to study poetry and painting, Beijing Opera and Kunqu Opera, national music, Chinese medicine health care, aesthetic education, China Garden, China cuisine, film and television art, and to provide a reception place for holding various art exhibitions on a regular basis. Zhang Erbin believes that the restored mustard seed garden should be turned into a fine garden culture with Nanjing characteristics, and become a cultural and economic entity integrating landscape, academic research and cultural exchange, so as to realize the coordinated development of social and economic benefits such as tourism and culture. Only in this way can Nanjing garden culture have more historical and cultural value, and its connotation and taste can be reflected and improved, thus promoting the transformation of Nanjing tourism culture from a cursory tour to a high-level, multi-level leisure, recuperation and participation.

With this bold idea, Zhang Erbin quickly put it into action. 1992 begins with the idea of absorbing foreign capital to rebuild Nanjing mustard garden. With the care and support of NLD Nanjing Municipal Committee, he sent a letter [Ning Mengfa (1992) No.7] to Nanjing Municipal Committee, Municipal Government and National People's Congress in the name of NLD Municipal Committee, which quickly attracted the attention of the leaders of the Municipal Committee and Municipal Government. At that time, the instructions of Nanjing Municipal Party Committee Secretary: "Please ask Vice Mayor Wo to discuss with relevant departments and put forward opinions." Hu, deputy secretary of the municipal party Committee, gave instructions: "This idea is very good. Please ask Mayor Fan to read the approval and report it to the relevant departments for further demonstration. " At a meeting of the 11th National People's Congress in Nanjing, Zhang Erbin, as a representative of the National People's Congress, once again proposed "rebuilding mustard seed orchard and developing Shizhuzhai" (No.7024). The reply of the general office of the municipal government to the proposal is that "the proposal is very good and the municipal government attaches great importance to it". "The municipal government is planning the cultural strategy of Nanjing, and the reconstruction of mustard seed orchard and the development of Shizhuzhai will be included in the planning scope." However, with the transfer of relevant leaders and the immature economic and cultural environment at that time, Zhang Erbin's idea of rebuilding mustard seed orchard was shelved, but it did not make him lose confidence. He asked the experts for advice by writing letters or visiting at home. Mr. Wang Bomin, a famous art historian and professor of China Academy of Fine Arts, and Mr. Wang Dafu, a professor of Fine Arts Department of Nanjing Normal University, both said in their letters that Mr. Fu Baoshi, a master of Chinese painting, attached great importance to Li Yu's Mustard Garden before his death. He believes that mustard garden is in Nanjing, which needs the attention of Nanjing art circles. He once mentioned in the "History of China Printmaking": First, the mustard garden needs to be restored and has the money to rebuild; Second, reprint the biography of mustard seed garden. Li Jianchen, a famous master, also wrote: "Inheritance and innovation cannot be separated from open source, which is the most important link in the artistic development of China". Wu Junfa, a famous printmaker, visited the French National Library, and the person in charge of the library specially introduced Li Yu's Mustard Garden to him. He believes that "the construction of Liyu Cultural Park is a good thing. On the one hand, it will carry forward the traditional culture of China, on the other hand, it will make great contributions to spiritual civilization. Not only that, it will also add luster to Nanjing, which is building a modern metropolis. "

With the affirmation and support of experts, Zhang Erbin has more confidence in realizing his ideas. He has shifted his focus to attracting investment, because he understands that no matter how good an idea is, it can only stay in the idea forever without the approval of investors. He made extensive contacts with entrepreneurs at home and abroad, such as Hongkong, Taiwan Province and Singapore, and publicized the situation of mustard seed orchard to them. Some entrepreneurs and leaders didn't understand, so he began to "literacy" from how to write the three words "mustard garden", bought a book "Complete Works of Li Yu", sorted out a lot of materials as publicity materials, and wrote articles in newspapers and magazines such as China Pictorial and Southeast Culture to promote mustard garden, which led some entrepreneurs to buy "Complete Works of Li Yu" on a whim, and even bookstores were surprised and always ignored. However, businessmen's eyes will not only stay on interests, only interests are their driving force. Repeated unsuccessful returns have not shaken Zhang Erbin's belief, but he has been looking for it.

Things turned around in 2003, when Zhang Erbin met Xie Weining, vice president of Lixin Investment Company (now a member of NLD). At that time, Mr. Xie was always invited to visit Zhang Erbin's house because of his interest in calligraphy and painting. After the talk, Zhang Erbin gave him a piece of information about the mustard garden, but I didn't expect to get a reply soon. Lixin Investment Company has great enthusiasm for this project. Zhang Erbin, who has been waiting for nearly ten years, was overjoyed to hear the news. He immediately contacted the site selection. Finally, the leaders of the Bureau of Landscape Architecture think that this project is very good and suitable for the development of garden culture. After several rounds of negotiations, an agreement was finally reached, which was funded by the Nanjing Garden Bureau Chudi and Lixin Company. The municipal government and the Municipal Construction Committee have successively approved that "Liyu Cultural Park is a key cultural project developed and constructed by Nanjing Bureau of Landscape Architecture and Nanjing Lixin Investment Management Co., Ltd.", aiming at fully excavating, protecting and promoting the excellent Chinese traditional culture represented by Liyu, promoting Nanjing's high-level and multi-level tourism culture, and actively implementing the cultural strategic planning of the provincial government to "build a cultural province" and the Nanjing Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government to "display the image of Nanjing as a world historical and cultural city".

Liyu Cultural Park is located in the north of Xuanwu Lake, covering an area of about 28,000 square meters. According to the architectural styles of China Jiangnan gardens and famous houses in Ming and Qing Dynasties, and drawing lessons from Li Yu's aesthetic viewpoint of gardening, the scenic spots and functions are combined and integrated into the aesthetic consciousness and functions of modern architecture. In addition to restoring the original scenic spots such as Fubaixuan, Yuexie, Laixiange and Taige in the mustard garden, the garden will also carefully arrange the stone spectrum and flower spectrum in the mustard garden, which will be poetic and picturesque everywhere, which can be used as a hobby of painting and calligraphy for Chinese and foreign guests. In order to develop the Liyu Cultural Park project from a high starting point and in a planned way, landscape design experts at home and abroad are invited to make overall planning and design with scenic spots and functional buildings, so that it not only has the characteristics of Jinling Garden, but also makes full use of the natural landscape of Xuanwu Lake, which is concise and exquisite. Li Yu Cultural Park will complement the Xuanwu Lake series of scenic spots and add bright colors to the road reconstruction project of Xuanwu Lake.

Li Yu Cultural Park has everything, just waiting for the day of construction. Zhang Erbin, who has been busy for more than ten years, is still busy. It seems that there are always a lot of new problems waiting for him to solve. During the period of attracting investment, some shrewd businessmen saw the value of the brand mustard garden, which led to the emergence of decoration companies, furniture stores and galleries with mustard garden as their signboard, which affected mustard garden to some extent. The biggest headache for Zhang Erbin and investors is the commencement date. As Liyu Cultural Park is located in Xuanwu Lake, the project can not be started until the overall rules of Xuanwu Lake are promulgated. But as a private enterprise investor, it is impossible to spend a sum of 60 million yuan on a project that can't wait for the start date. Waiting for such a huge amount of money will inevitably affect the normal operation of the company.

In order to rebuild the mustard seed orchard, Zhang Erbin waited 12 years and was busy 12 years. Now, although everything is ready for the Liyu Cultural Park project, Zhang Erbin, who is over the age of sixty, will continue to wait and be busy to truly solve his "mustard garden" complex. ...