Scottish photographer comments on China

The last emperor Puyi bid farewell to his mentor Zhuang Shidun. Since then, the two have never lived a leisure life without Johnston. When Puyi was a teenager, he asked his teacher, Johnston, why didn't you get married? He kept a seemingly smiling expression and did not answer. He is handsome and handsome, and it is by no means passive not to get married.

He dared to teach Puyi to break through old ideas, ride a bike and wear glasses. He saw through the fact that Puyi wanted to go to Oxford University only to escape the status quo of being controlled, and taught him that the best way to solve the problem was to be the master of his own family after marriage. On the occasion of parting, Puyi asked him: Do you think an emperor who stepped down can be an emperor again? Johnston must be familiar with western history and the history of Napoleon's comeback. So the answer is yes. At the same time, he also saw Puyi's mind. Therefore, Japan proposed that Puyi should be the emperor of Manchuria, and Puyi must be voluntary. So in his book, Puyi volunteered to be the emperor of Manchuria. What kind of person was Zhuang Shidun, the foreign teacher of the last emperor Puyi? When he first arrived in China, Johnston showed his profound knowledge of China culture, and was deeply impressed by China culture. He actively studied Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, France, China's geography, Tang poetry and Song poetry, and traveled all over the provinces, famous mountains and rivers, and famous temples. Since then, Johnston has worked and lived in China as an official and scholar for more than 30 years.

? Johnston is a scholar with profound attainments in Sinology. After living in China for several decades, Johnston dabbled in various books and made an in-depth study of China's poems and songs and the Confucian culture in China culture 190 1 year. Johnston published a book "An China Appeal to the Christian World about Christian Missionary Activities" in London under the pen name "Lin Shaoyang", but the Christian church tried to change China's practice, which aroused strong dissatisfaction from the British religious circles. ? Johnston advocated Confucianism. After coming to China, he not only claimed to be Johnston, but also named himself "Know" according to tradition, which was taken from "A Scholar Determined to Seek the Way" in The Analects of Confucius. Johnston likes traveling very much. During his decades in China, he visited the famous mountains and rivers in China, experienced the local customs and wrote a lot of works about China, many of which are still used for reference by academic research institutions. Johnston was also deeply attracted by Buddhist philosophy. He read a lot of Buddhist classics, visited famous temples and discussed Buddhist theory with eminent monks. He believes that "Buddhist thought is far deeper than the Bible". ? 1906, went up the Yangtze River and arrived in Sichuan. From 65438 to 0908, he arrived at Wutai Mountain, Jiuhua Mountain, Putuo Mountain and other places, and visited Buddhist holy places along the way to collect first-hand information for studying Buddhist theory. Who was the foreign teacher of the last emperor Puyi? Johnston.

Johnston, 1874, was born in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. His original name was Reginald Fleming Johnston. 1898 was sent to hong kong as an oriental trainee. Since then, Johnston has worked and lived in China as a scholar and an official for 34 years. 1965438+In February 2009, he went to Beijing and began his career as a "royal teacher". Johnston was the first and last foreigner with the title of "Imperial Teacher" in the history of China for thousands of years. Johnston is a man with profound knowledge of sinology and scholar accomplishment. He extensively searched for a subset of classics and history, and liked China's classical poems and drinking tea. He has written a lot of works about China, such as Buddhists in China, Lions and Dragons in Ahava, Confucianism and Modern China. But what makes it famous is the book Dusk in the Forbidden City published by 1934. Johnston not only served Puyi wholeheartedly, but also brought a new atmosphere to this ancient palace, which was highly respected by Puyi. However, in a large number of China documents, he was written as a representative of western culture, a deep charge of cultural aggression, and even said that Johnston's teaching of English was false. In fact, he is the liaison between the small court and the British embassy, and he is also a British spy. In the eyes of the British, Johnston is an eccentric who is too keen to embrace foreign cultures, and even a "British traitor" who is wholeheartedly loyal to foreign masters. 1938, Johnston died and never married. Why did the last emperor go to the Forbidden City to film the last emperor was indeed the right time, because in April of that year, the Ministry of Culture issued a regulation prohibiting all filming in ancient buildings of international key cultural relics protection units, and the cast of "The Last Emperor" submitted an application before that.

In addition, the mid-1980s also happened to be a period when China was opening up to the outside world and more open-minded. As a well-known Italian leftist, bertolucci also gained the full trust of relevant departments, and thus gained the privilege envied by his peers.

Of course, the administrative department has also imposed strict restrictions on entering the Forbidden City to ensure that buildings and cultural relics will not be accidentally damaged. At that time, the crew entered the set strictly, and the actor who played Johnston forgot to bring his work permit and was turned away.

Because the Hall of Supreme Harmony is a large-scale building with classical wood structure in China for hundreds of years, in order to prevent the damage of related equipment, especially fire, according to the requirements of the management department, it is forbidden to use trolleys, rocker arms and lighting equipment in the palace.

Finally, under the guidance of bertolucci, photographer storaro used a portable camera stabilizer camera to shoot, and the light came in from outside the temple.

Thus, the classic scene in the movie-Puyi stood on the throne and looked out of the hall, and the light shone through the huge yellow silk to illuminate the "golden brick" of the Hall of Supreme Harmony. ...

In this regard, bertolucci thought: "But if we didn't go to the Hall of Supreme Harmony that day, the movie wouldn't be like this." Because this scene can't be copied.

Extended data:

The melancholy hue of the sunset in the Forbidden City depicted in The Last Emperor is a great killer to conquer western audiences. Only with special permission can the film enter the Forbidden City for comprehensive shooting, thus ensuring the high quality of detailed description. As a result, the Forbidden City has been pushed to the world by this film and has become the first choice for travelers from all over the world to visit China.

The Forbidden City is the largest existing royal palace complex in the world. It is the imperial palace of the Ming and Qing emperors, with a total area of 720,000 square meters and 9,999 semi-palaces. During the Republic of China, the Forbidden City changed from a palace to a public museum.

Although the area of the Forbidden City is large, its structure is clear, and it is divided into three main lines: the central axis, the East Sixth Palace and the West Sixth Palace. If divided according to the front and back, it is bounded by Gan Qing Gate, with an outer court in the south and an inner court in the north.

The periphery of the Forbidden City is surrounded and protected by towering city walls and moats up to 6 meters deep. There are four turrets at the four corners of the city wall. A bird's-eye view of the Forbidden City shows a stable atmosphere, which is the pinnacle of China's ancient architectural planning.