Today's lottery zodiac

Clay sculpture "Little Pig" (Shen Hu, Hu Xiaohong)

◎ Xu Zhuo

Editor's Note: Since 1997, the old media person Xu Zhuo has asked for his unique zodiac calendar every year, and this year is the twenty-third year. For many years, every day, the supplement will publish an article about Mr. Xu Zhuo's zodiac calendar on the occasion of the Spring Festival. He will talk about his editing experience in searching for the works of the zodiac, and talk about the support and support given by many friends. The Chinese zodiac calendar embodies profound cultural feelings and is full of endless human feelings.

Use a group of piglets to pose for running forward, which is lively and happy.

Since the Year of the Ox in 1997, every year, I have selected classic works about the coming year's zodiac from ancient cultural heritage and art, and edited and designed a calendar with the size of 16. After the completion of 12 and 12, the second round was started in 2009, and the editing ideas and design were changed. The second seal added experts' discussion about the Chinese Zodiac of that year, and also published famous calligraphy, related cultural relics and artistic works. The appreciation and introduction of works and words have been added to the lower right of the monthly map, which has increased the knowledge of friends after reading it.

Year after year, 1 1 has passed, and this year, the 23rd book (Lunar Year of the Pig) has been compiled. It's been 23 years since China's two zodiac calendars. Many friends said that since they collected a book, the past 22 books have been well preserved. Every time they read, they can not only recall the past whereabouts recorded above, but also enjoy the wonderful art of the zodiac.

In the spring of the Year of the Dog, I started looking for "pigs" as usual. For thousands of years, pigs have been domestic animals, the animals closest to people and the symbol of family prosperity. From ancient times to the present, you can choose many wonderful works about pigs in painting, stone carving, bronze ware, pottery, paper-cutting, cloth art, toys and shadow play.

I first went through all the picture books and books at home and scanned the pictures of pigs. I searched my computer library again and found out the photos I took about pigs in the past. This is a preliminary framework. The cover of the calendar is the key, so it must look good. When considering the cover of the calendar of the Year of the Pig, I browsed many pictures on the computer and carefully considered which one could be used as the cover. I still think it's better to paint clay sculptures with pigs in Fengxiang, Shaanxi. It must be very vivid, happy and beautiful to pose forward with a group of pigs.

It's best to choose the pig painted by Mr. Shen Hu. In February 2007, I had the honor to visit Shen Hu in Liu Ying Village, Fengxiang County, Baoji City, Shaanxi Province. He has been an artist for more than 60 years and is the most representative old clay sculpture artist in Liu Ying Village, which is known as the "hometown of clay sculpture in China". Shen Hu's clay sculptures filled the yard and three houses, which was really an eye-opener. Hu Lao was particularly enthusiastic about us, showed us around the yard and patiently introduced one piece of work. That year was the year of the pig. I heard that I am a pig, so I was specially given a lovely painted pig.

Of course, I told Mr. Shen Hu's daughter Hu Xiaohong that she would ask her for help for next year's calendar, and she readily promised "no problem". I asked her to provide the pig's shape first, and she sent color photos of different shapes from WeChat. I chose four kinds and asked her to send me two of each. What moved me was that not long after, I received a very tightly packed carton from the courier, with three layers inside and three layers outside. When I opened it, eight little pigs wrapped in foam lined up in two layers, which showed the seriousness and delicacy of Hu Xiaohong. At this time, I think, the cover of next year's calendar is already available.

The Wind was specially written by Mr. Yang Hong, a researcher at China Institute of Archaeology. I first asked Mr. Yang for a manuscript 33 years ago, and then 12 years later. Every year, I asked Mr. Yang to write a thousand-word article for the overseas edition of "New Year Art Special Issue" to increase the knowledge and readability of the calendar. Mr. Yang Hong has an important academic position in the field of cultural relics and archaeology, and every article he writes is very serious. Although this article is only 1000 words, it has important academic value and is always easy to understand for readers of different levels.

I remember 33 years ago, I went to the office of the Archaeological Research Institute opposite the Overseas Chinese Building to get it. Later, I went to the editorial department of Cultural Relics on the beach to get the manuscript. This year, I went to his house to discuss the revision. 33 years later, Mr. Yang was 84 years old and I was 72 years old. Mr. Yang said in particular: "I am a pig, and next year is my animal year." I said, "Me too, one round younger than you."

The year before last, 165438+ 10, 2 1, I received an email from Yang Xianlai in my mailbox. He said, "... I'm going through the wall to find the mouse again. I wish you all a happy cooperation in the Year of the Rat. "

The picture above shows a big pig and a little pig (Li Xiufang).

Find out the products at home one by one in advance every year and shoot them for me.

Rural women see pigs every day and are too familiar with them, so there are many pigs in paper-cutting. However, if selected into the calendar, the works of the outstanding paper-cut artist Shen Peinong are the most suitable. His works are rough and beautiful, full of decorative interest and life flavor. One work shows a child holding a bright red pig lamp in the form of colored stickers. On pigs, there are money spikes floating, which means auspiciousness and wealth. There are two fish lights hanging under it, which symbolizes that it is more than auspicious. February is most suitable for the first lunar month. In his life, Mr. Shen Peinong has created many works that show the zodiac. He knows that I am a pig. At the end of 1994, he created two paper-cut tickets for me. Although Mr. Shen has left us, his works still have infinite vitality and give people beautiful enjoyment every year.

This painting in April is a peasant painting "Big Pig and Little Pig" by Li Xiufang of Ansai, Shaanxi. Many years ago, I went to Shaanxi Ansai for an interview. The cultural center gave me a desk calendar of the zodiac with this picture of "Big Pig and Little Pig". Li Xiufang usually pays attention to life, so her works are always full of strong interest in life. When creating this work, she said: "Just like people, wherever the sow at home goes, the pig follows, running around the sow, alive and kicking, looking amiable, but very happy." Painting is painting your own happy things. "

After choosing this work, I learned that Li Xiufang died unfortunately last year. Sun Shengli, director of Ansai County Cultural Center and I said happily, "No problem, I'll ask Chen Lihai to make a copy for you." How fast! A few days later, I received a copy of the express delivery. At first glance, this painting is really good.

For many years, Ansai's peasant paintings have been used in calendars. Tell curator Sun which one to choose, and he will fully support them. For plate making, I wanted to ask him to send a better photo electronic file, but many of them died at the age of 50. He sent a task for a young owner to copy and send it so that I could take photos and make plates, which of course worked well. Thank you very much for your sincere and selfless help to curator Sun and Chen.

The inscription was written by Chen, a researcher at Shaanxi Group Art Museum. He was created by these farmers in those years and has been retired for many years. What moved me was that he was very serious. He wrote two 200-word explanations. Let me choose one.

In June, the famous toy collector Li began to use the the cloth flower pig in Baoji, Shaanxi. Because I used to work with Li in the China Art Museum, I often helped the Art Department and Li shoot works of art, which made me know more about art. Since 1997, this zodiac calendar has been fully supported by Lao Li every year. Now, although Lao Li has been gone for seven years, his wife and daughter still actively cooperate with this zodiac calendar compiled by me, and find out the products at home one by one for me to shoot every year. Therefore, every year on the calendar, you can see the works of art collected by Lao Li with years of painstaking efforts, many of which are orphans. He once said: "I used to spend a few cents on the toys at the stall, but I can't buy them today, and the old artists are gone." Because they don't make money, they don't do it anymore. " I am very grateful to the Li family for their selfless support.

The fabrics in July and the shadow play "Flame Pig" in August were selected from China Art Museum. Over the years, the art museum has collected a large number of fine works of art. The pig pillows, cloth pigs, embroidered children's shoes, Ping Xiu bird-patterned skirts and embroidered bibs used this time are the last calendar of the Year of the Pig in 2007, which was shot in the art museum 12 years ago. That year, the art gallery found many wonderful works about pigs for me to take pictures of, and this time I used them again. This shadow play is one of the three "fire pigs" collected by the art museum. One of them was used for the previous calendar. This shadow play depicts a strong black pig surrounded by flames, whose mouth opens and spits out flames. The flame has a strange and exaggerated shape, which embodies the artist's rich imagination and superb artistic expression. Starting from "One of the Zodiac Calendars", they have been supported by Canon Department of China Academy of Art every year, and their collections can always be seen on the calendar. The picture on the left shows the paper-cut Year of the Pig (Shen Peinong)

The calendar is only a dozen pages, which embodies the painstaking efforts of many people.

In June+10, 5438, The Journey to the West, a peasant painting painted by Tianjin Feng Aidong, was used. In the past, Feng's paintings in the northern suburbs of Tianjin were very common and outstanding in many farmers' art exhibitions and albums. Born and raised locally, he is very familiar with rural life. The characters, animals, props, scenes and customs he described are very real, vivid and lovely, and have his own characteristics in shape and color. His paintings are delicate with pens and delicate characters. Many people think it comes from a female painter, but in fact it is a dark-faced man with a deep voice.

Feng's paintings are used in the calendars of the Year of the Loong and the Year of the Rooster. On August 7th, 2022, Zhang Weimin, the old curator of Tianjin Beichen District Cultural Center, took me to Feng 'ai Dong's house to take photos in order to photograph the Year of the Rooster calendar. There are many finished and unfinished paintings in his living room and studio, so I took all his finished paintings. There is a painting with the theme of Journey to the West, which I think is very vivid, especially the pig in the middle, which stands out. At that time, I wanted to wait for the Year of the Pig so that I could use it on my calendar.

At the beginning of last year, after I decided to use this The Journey to the West, I told him that I planned to use it on the calendar of the Year of the Pig. He is very happy. I said I don't need to shoot anymore. You played well last time. I asked Zhang Weimin, the old curator of Beichen District Cultural Center, to write a 200-word appreciation article, and I received it two days later. This old curator, who is now over eighty years old, has made great contributions to the achievements of farmers' paintings in Beichen District.

At the beginning of the year, I spent time sorting out the calendar code. Because I was afraid of making mistakes, I had to buy several different versions of desk calendars for comparison, and also made repeated comparisons with different versions of perpetual calendars in the world, 360 browsers on computers and calendars on mobile phones. I have been right countless times myself, but I am still blind. Spell and type the pictures and texts every month, and then ask the old proofreader of the newspaper to help read them. This is very important. Proofreading is very serious and professional. Re-examining the time, formulation, appellation, rhetoric and punctuation mentioned in the article will often find some hard injuries, point out various problems that should be corrected and avoid many mistakes.

Annual printing is the last key. When I start printing, whether it is day shift or night shift, I will take the color samples of the pictures to the printing factory to see how the ink was printed at first, whether the color is offset and whether the depth is appropriate. As long as I start to adjust it satisfactorily, there won't be much deviation in the next 1 10,000 or 20,000 graphs. Every year, the master worker attaches great importance to it. They are young but experienced, serious and hardworking.

Although the calendar has only a dozen pages, it embodies the efforts and painstaking efforts of many people. It should be said that it is the result of collective creation and cannot be separated from the selfless help of friends from all walks of life. Too many friends contributed to this calendar and moved me. No matter who they are, they won't say anything, and they won't list them one by one. They will be sincerely grateful.

It has become an idea in everyone's life, and it is not unpleasant.

This year's calendar printed 29,200 copies, 3,000 more than last year. A pack of 40 books a year will be delivered to my home twice in two days. 165438+20221October15th night, a car arrived, and more than 1 1000 copies were delivered to my home. It is not easy for porters to unload from trucks onto flatbeds, get into elevators, go up to the tenth floor, turn two corners along the corridor and push them to my house, and then move them into my small hall one by one, ten by ten (for good counting). The next day, I began to know that all departments in the newspaper compound had made an appointment for residents to pick them up, and they were all looking forward to picking them up at night. Then they came to my house to pick up the calendars one after another, and sent away a large part the next day.

Many days later, it was really lively. Everyone and I have been as busy as farmers for a year, and we can look forward to the autumn harvest. There are many people who are old and cold and don't have to run. Please give me the address and I'll send it by express. Some people, I said don't run, I'll give it to you by express, but they still don't agree. They said they'd better go to your house to get it, just to see you.

I especially want to thank everyone who likes this calendar. I am also glad to see you find my home all the way, and get the satisfaction and joy when you get the calendar. At the end of each year, many friends are looking forward to getting a zodiac calendar for the coming year, which has become an inseparable partner in life.

Many people came and said, "Tomorrow happens to be a class reunion. I'll send one to each of them." Some people even say that when her sister returns to America in two days, she must bring more gifts, which is a better gift. A middle school Chinese teacher said to me, "How happy they should be when I send a copy to every student at the New Year's Eve party!" After the New Year, the teacher really sent a photo of the students in their class holding calendars. An art teacher in a primary school also ordered a lot, saying it was for the children in her art group. One of them also sent the calendar photos that her mother-in-law had collected for more than ten years, and said that her mother-in-law liked them very much and would keep them for appreciation every year.

Zhao Ruiying, an old professor at the Academy of Fine Arts, is 89 years old this year. She orders more than 400 copies every year and gives them to every old man living in a nursing home. She said that before the end of the year, many people met and asked, "Do you have a calendar next year? I am used to it without it. " An old classmate sent me: "It's always a pleasure to receive your calendar at the end of the year. This year, my 90-year-old father said nothing in vain. He immediately added something to the calendar, which seemed to actually satisfy one year ... "When I was in the Year of the Loong, an old friend gave it to me:" I received the calendar and liked it very much. I sent a copy to my son, and they will keep it as an important gift for the upcoming baby dragon. "

There are too many words and things that touched me. Whenever I see these heartfelt confessions, they are like a warm current injected into my heart.

Mr Liu Huanzhang is a professor and sculptor at the Academy of Fine Arts. He is 89 years old this year. He is close to my home. Every year in Niangen, I will visit the old man at his home and give him a calendar. I have given it to him every year since 1997, one of the zodiac calendars. A few years ago, in a vegetable market, I met Mr. Liu who bought yogurt. In particular, he said to me, "I have a small calendar that you give me every year." At 65438 on February 23rd, 2022, I went to his house and asked, "How are you?" He said happily, "Good. By the end of the year, on December 30 of the lunar calendar (his birthday), I will be 90 years old! " ""Can you still hit a stone? " "yes! "He said that he took us to his balcony for renovation. When chatting, he shaped a clay draft of a young man's body.

Chang Shana, the former president of the Academy of Arts and Crafts, is also very close to my home. When she often buys food in the vegetable market, she is always so energetic. Every year is the end of the year. I went to see the old dean and gave her a calendar. In the past, when she answered, she would always say, "Let's." Give me another calendar of one of her works. On the morning of February 20th, 2022, at 65438, I made an appointment with Mr. Bi Lili to go to President Chang's home. Dean Chang was very happy and introduced her calendar paintings to me, saying that this year's theme is still dominated by patterns of past dynasties.

Over the years, the calendar has been printed, and I will send it to several old classmates in Tianjin one after another. First, students from Anshan Road Primary School1954 entered school at the age of 7, and their grandparents are 72 years old this year; Second, junior high school students study in Huayao Middle School (No.16 Middle School)1960; The third is the family and students of Mr. Li Wenzhen from Hua Yao Middle School Art Troupe. It's a pity that they are all looking forward to it because the mail is often not received. In recent years, as soon as we discussed this issue, we simply changed to a political party. When the calendar was printed, I went back to Tianjin twice a year and attended three parties. Year after year, everyone has a chance to meet.

Teacher Zhang, the head teacher of the first grade of our primary school, is 84 years old this year. He is older than us. He calls me every year. As soon as I heard it, I knew I was thinking about the calendar. I quickly said, "Don't worry, print it first and send it to you." One year, it was sent out for more than 20 days, and she was picked up: "I read the newspaper carton every day and haven't received it yet." I'll send it by express quickly. One day last September, she asked, "Is there a calendar for next year?" "yes! No problem! " "Then I'll order 50 copies." Increased by 10 compared with last year. 65438+Before dawn on February 9th, a primary school classmate in Beijing picked me up and took my calendar to Tianjin. One of them was teacher Zhang's house and gave her 50 calendars. Teacher Zhang and we are both pigs, and everyone took a photo with the calendar of the Year of the Pig. There is a restaurant not far from the second round, where other students are waiting.

I didn't expect a small calendar to make so many people like it and satisfy it. I'm also very fulfilled and gratified. The zodiac calendar carries our feelings among teachers, classmates and friends every year. Over the years, it has become a bond of people's feelings at the end of the year, and at the same time it has brought us the hope of good luck and joy in the new year. It has become an idea in everyone's life.

The above is related to the zodiac in the perpetual calendar, and it is about the sharing of culture. After reading the daily zodiac of the perpetual calendar, I hope this will help everyone!