Where is Ronglang from?

Rong Lang, descendant of Shanxi merchants, freelance photographer and well-known traveler. He has walked through the ancient Shu Road, the Sichuan-Tibet Line, the New Tibet Line and other places, packed his bags, experienced the wind and frost, persistently pursued his glory and dreams, and tasted the happiness and sadness in a lonely journey in a deserted foreign land. He has published a book-"Shanxi Guild Hall"-an album "Shanxi Merchants Guild Hall", and held many personal photography exhibitions in Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Beijing and other places!

Chinese name: Ronglang

Nationality: China.

Ethnic group: Han nationality

Place of Birth: Linxian County, Shanxi Province

Date of birth:1May, 983.

Occupation: photographer

Main achievements: held many personal photography exhibitions.

Representative Works: Book-Shanxi Guild Hall-Album "Shanxi Merchants Guild Hall"

Experience introduction

Rong Lang, 1983 was born in Linxian County, Luliang City, Shanxi Province. 18 years old began to wander alone in Beijing, from a makeup artist to a photographer, always looking for his dreams.

Since 2003, Ronglang has been walking through Gushu Road and Sichuan-Tibet Line, and has been obsessed with the smell of the road ever since. In 2006, when he was invited by the Chinese Buddhist Association to take photos at the Zhangye Grand Buddha Temple, he had the opportunity to get in touch with the Shanxi Guild Hall, and thus began a long search trip. He never gave up after difficulties and obstacles.

In 2007, Ronglang published books such as Shanxi Guild Hall, Capital of Loyalty and Righteousness, and Picture Album of Shanxi Merchants Guild Hall, and held many photo exhibitions of Shanxi Merchants Guild Hall in Beijing, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shandong and other places, which aroused great social repercussions. In the following years, Ronglang never stopped looking for the Shanxi Guild Hall. He traveled all over the motherland and recorded the brilliant footprints of Shanxi merchants with his lens.

20 1 1 year, Ronglang put everything in his hand, packed his bags and rode his bike. After seven months of wind and rain, he traveled all over seven Asian countries.

Anecdotes of characters

The greedy boy decided to travel all over Shanxi Guild Hall.

Rong Lang, 1983, a native of Linxian County, Shanxi Province, now lives in Beijing. He belongs to the kind of student who is not particularly interested in learning, but he has many ideas since he was a child. After getting the high school diploma, Rong Lang stopped studying and came to Beijing to be a teacher. In March 2006, at the invitation of the Chinese Buddhist Association, I went to Zhangye, Gansu Province to take a group of photos for a temple. Knowing that he was from Shanxi, the local cultural department happily pointed to a building to be converted into a zhaitang and said, "That was built by you Shanxi people, and it was originally built by Shanxi businessmen." In such a remote place, there are even the footprints of Shanxi people! An ordinary sentence made Ronglang feel very shocked. Now it is necessary to change the guild hall into a fasting hall, which makes him indignant: why should we use our Shanxi people's things for other purposes? After returning from Zhang Ye's trip, Rong Lang's mood still can't be calm: it used to be a temple for Shanxi wanderers to repose their homesickness, a temple to show the spirit of Shanxi merchants, and a temple to witness the glory and prosperity of Shanxi merchants. Today, it has become such a field. After several reflections, he made up his mind: He must go to the Shanxi Guild Hall in China and record them all with a pen and camera. It sounds absurd to take on the responsibility of saving the guild hall by one person. At this time, a friend of Peking University told him something that might affect his life. A friend said, "Many things in the world are not destined to succeed from the beginning. A person's strength may be limited, but only if you do it yourself will someone pay attention to you and have a greater hope of success. After all, there are not so many good things in the world, so let's do it first! " Ronglang listened to this friend's suggestion, quit the photography invitation of many newspapers, magazines and photo agencies, and embarked on the road of visiting the Shanxi Merchants Guild Hall. From May 2006, he spent more than three months visiting more than ten counties and cities in seven provinces and cities, including Henan, Jiangsu, Shandong, Anhui, Liaoning, Inner Mongolia and Gansu, and photographed 13 of the 7 Shanxi merchants' associations he knew. Along the way, he not only saw the pride of Shanshan Guild Hall in Sheqi County, Henan Province, but also was surprised to see the exquisite architecture of Suzhou Jin Quan Guild Hall, and even saw the embarrassment and heartache of turning the Guild Hall into a granary and slaughterhouse. He said that as far as the Shanxi Merchants Guild Hall he walked through was concerned, except for three or four well-preserved ones, the rest were more or less damaged. There was only one main hall left in Anyang, which could collapse at any time.

The national photo exhibition of Shanxi Merchants Guild shocked the whole country.

The "Guild Hall" is an organization set up by fellow villagers or people in the same industry in Beijing and major cities, with museums for gathering and accommodation of fellow villagers. Most of the Shanxi guildhalls in all parts of the country are built according to the architectural style of Shanxi, and some are even built with building materials from their hometown. No provincial guild hall covers the whole country like Shanxi guild hall and is well preserved.

At the end of July, 2006, Rong Lang posted on the Internet: When it comes to guild halls, people can't help but think of guild halls in Shanxi, but this guild hall site named "Shanxi" is facing the fact that it can't be effectively maintained in many parts of the country today. As a native of Shanxi, I have the obligation and responsibility to do some work for the remaining guild halls all over the country. It is very painful for me to see it with my own eyes. Next month, I will hold a photo exhibition in Taiyuan, the provincial capital, with the theme of Shanxi Guild Hall. This unusual post attracted people's attention and support.

On the morning of June 5438+1October 65438+September, 2006, the National Photography Exhibition of Shanxi Merchants Association was held. There are more than 200 pictures in this exhibition, covering more than 20 provinces and cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui, Henan, Gansu and Chongqing. Among them, nearly half are national key cultural relics protection units. It is the first time in China that such a large-scale exhibition of Shanxi Merchants Guild Hall is held. This exhibition is the latest achievement in the study of Shanxi Merchants Guild. The current situation of Shanxi Guild Hall photographed by photographer Rong Lang, the precious photos taken by Liu Wenfeng of China Academy of Fine Arts 20 years ago, and the literature accumulated by Wang Nengchang of Provincial Theatre Academy for 20 years and the catalogue of Guild Hall are exhibited at the same time.

Shanxi guild hall market has a strong response.

With the broadcast of CCTV's "Qiao Family Courtyard", the Qiao Family Courtyard and Changjia Manor in Jinzhong ushered in groups of tourists from other provinces. All the visitors lamented the magnificent buildings left by Shanxi merchants, but they may not have thought that even in their own places, they could see the architectural treasures left by Shanxi merchants, who are known as the "richest man in the sea". That's Shanxi guild hall.

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, where there was a thriving business, there were Shanxi merchants. Where Shanxi merchants live, there must be a guild hall. Shanxi Guild Hall is a place where Shanxi businessmen contact feelings, exchange information and manage business when they live in other places. And because of the strength of Shanxi merchants, the hall built was the most sophisticated and beautiful in the local area at that time. The compound in the province and the guild hall outside the province are the brilliant footnotes of Shanxi merchants. With the change of the current situation and the war, the figure of Shanxi merchants gradually disappeared in the torrent of history, leaving only a few relics for us to mourn. Among them, the quadrangle is still a proud legacy left by Shanxi merchants, but the guild hall is like a lost child, which has been out of touch with us for a long time. Now, how many halls are there in Shanxi merchants? What is their present situation? What is the connection with the culture of Shanxi merchants? How many of us in Shanxi can answer these questions?

The search will not stop, and the sense of mission will be stronger.

Many Shanxi merchants' guild halls have disappeared forever, and the fate of some lucky people is also worrying. The Shanxi Merchants Guild Hall scattered all over the country is undoubtedly an extremely precious historical and cultural heritage. Rong Lang said that all he can do is to record the glory and gloom, luck and vicissitudes of the guild hall with images. However, these photos taken by Ronglang have played an unexpected role after being exhibited twice in Taiyuan. Since then, Ronglang has a stronger sense of mission.

With the support of the relevant departments in the province, the pictures of Shanxi Merchants Guild Hall taken by Ronglang are on display. Shanxi Province invited more than 0 directors of Shanxi Merchants' Guilds from Henan, Qinghai and other places to observe the exhibition. After seeing the exhibition, the curator was greatly shocked and inspired. After returning, they quickly applied to the government for special funds for protection and restoration. At present, most of Shanxi merchants' guild halls in Henan and Qinghai are under repair, and many of them have been listed as national or provincial key cultural relics protection units. Shenyang will transform Sanjin Guild Hall, the landmark building of Zhongjie, into Qipanshan Tourist Area. The TV series "Mr. Kanto" starring Zhao Benshan is mostly shot here, which has become a hot spot in film and television shooting.

Qian Xiaohu, a businessman from Shanxi Province, saw the pictures of Shanxi Merchants Guild Hall and took the initiative to raise funds to repair and buy out the management and development rights of Duolun Shanxi Merchants Guild Hall. Taiyuan City is partially renovating Yingze Park, and the gate of Shanxi Merchants Guild Hall and Theater Hall in other provinces are copied and built in Yingze Park according to the original proportion.

"In this magical land of Shanxi, there is such a profound cultural accumulation that Shanxi merchants have brought this cultural accumulation to all parts of the motherland. Shanxi Merchants Guild Hall is an externalized form of Shanxi culture. I hope to record the current situation of Shanxi guildhall scattered all over the country through my camera and keep these images. I hope that more people will re-understand and re-examine Shanxi through these pictures, and more people will pay attention to the Shanxi Merchants Guild and feel the Shanxi culture. " Descendants of Shanxi merchants let us see the elegance of Shanxi merchants in the past, and also let us see the hope of the rise of a new generation of Shanxi merchants. Rong Lang said: "Persistence is also an excellent quality at any time. I hope that everyone will join me in insisting on protecting the Shanxi Guild Hall. "