Zhong Ming’s character comments

To be precise, during my visit to Chengdu this time, I came to look for Zhong Ming, who wrote poems and essays back then. And I gradually learned that Zhong Ming’s photography is also unique. As early as 1986, he took a conceptual photo series called “The Legend of Paper.” However, what I met this winter was Zhong Ming, who was engaged in antiques and collection business and was enthusiastic about private museums. I was somewhat surprised.

In the age of the Internet and media, Zhong Ming, a leader of the Southern Poetry Movement, a photography enthusiast, a literary critic, and one of the best essayists in China, is no longer famous in his 50s.

Talent is easily drowned by the world, but the ringing of bells is not the case. Although he is a proud person, he does not really show it. He is a Snake, has a lonely temperament, is not very gregarious, but is still easy-going. Occasionally, I sit next to Xiao Zhai (Zhai Yongming) in the "White Night" bar. They don't talk much to each other, they just smile and chat normally. They have been friends for decades and they all love each other.

For Chengdu, Zhongming is a conspiracy, a monster, and an enthusiastic text maker. "The Classic of Mountains and Seas", "Natural History", "Sou Shen Ji", Dostoyevsky, Chekhov, Gogol and Benjamin have disappeared from his texts. Everyone still knows that he read Some very strange books. He gets wonder, admiration, even awe from it. He loves poetry. In the past, northern poets created poetry movements in the north, and he was in the south. For him, the South is not a faction or a region, but a "linguistic climate." Language and style are delicate and often not as straightforward and easy to discern as concepts and movements. He once immersed himself in poetry publications, such as "Second Forest" and "Xiangwang", but the Internet trend has been surging and has passed several climaxes. What does this have to do with him? He continued to be conservative and immersed himself in making tiles in his study. Sometimes he would lament: Looking at rocks is much more interesting than looking at people.

There were times when he was reckless and rude, for example, in the 1980s when he scolded the poetry world as "idiots", and when he had enemies with poets (at that time they were good at creating enemies of pure friendship and ideas), he was On the door of the study, a note was angrily posted: "Poets please do not enter." That was the past, the arrogant and exciting youth - fortunately, it did not transform into a simpler angry youth. "As long as they have a collection of poems published, I will buy it silently...I am their most loyal reader." He valued friendship and posted photos of his friends in his book. Later, poets changed careers one after another. Some became businessmen and made a fortune, while others became famous by writing novels. Only then did the 40-year-old Zhong Ming, who was poor, began to write the eloquent "The Spectator", which lasted for five years and involved personal "growth" in the traditional sense. Story" and the poetry movement of the 1980s, the reading process.

“Literature must be painful after all.” He said frankly that Zang Fu Ba Jin, Guo Moruo, Ai Qing, Bian Zhilin, Qian Zhongshu and others. "The Spectator" uses an extensive text, integrating essays, novels, poetry, literary theory, biography, annotations, translations, documents, photography, manuscripts and other elements, with meticulous footnotes, vast talents, the enthusiasm of devotees, and the asceticism. His forbearance, but also his sincerity, compassion, magnanimity, sadness and mystery commemorate youth, poetry and love.