The Spreader of Culture —— A Record of Liu, Director of Domestic Film Projector in Dawang Town, Huyi District

Speaking of Liu, everyone knows him in Dawang Town, Huyi District. He is a famous film projectionist and folk woodcarving artist, with a tall head, slim figure and hearty laughter.

In the sixties and seventies, Liu became a projectionist in the commune because he was a propaganda officer in the army. In that era of lack of culture, it was sacred and decent to find a job in the commune. As long as any village can see his figure, that village will boil instantly, as if he were a farmer who had been in the rain for a long time.

I was only five or six years old when I met my uncle Gong Xin. My mother works in the sewing group in the village. Uncle Gong Xin often goes to the sewing group to make screens, and I'll get familiar with it in the long run.

In my memory, Uncle Gong Xin was dressed in a yellow military uniform and rode a heavy bicycle, clean and tidy, tall and handsome. At that time, I saw that the most frequently asked sentence was, Uncle, do I have a movie here? Whenever I hear this, Uncle Gong Xin will smile and say, "I'll be the first to tell you when the movie will be released." .

At that time, if there was a movie in a village, the scene was no less than playing social fire in the New Year. People in the surrounding villages didn't wait until nightfall, so they ate early, dragged their chairs with their mouths, and arrived slowly.

In the 1960s and 1970s, projectors were an enviable profession. In people's eyes, you don't have to work in the sun, and any new movie can be previewed. But screening is a technical job, and it can't be done with a hoe. It is most appropriate to describe this job in a local saying-if you can't drink half a can of swill, don't take the job.

In that era when the spiritual world was barren, people could only see and get in touch with the outside world through movies. Every time I see Uncle Gong Xin shouting orders uniformly and authoritatively, a beam of light is projected from the projector onto the screen at the moment when the lights go out, and the noisy scene suddenly becomes quiet. At that time, a movie was sometimes shown in two villages on the same night. A village is released first, the first film is finished, and it is quickly handed over to the projectionist who has been waiting for a long time in B village, and then rushed to B village overnight. If something goes wrong in the middle of the movie machine, there will be complaints, whistles and boos on the screen, and all kinds of funny gestures will be projected on the screen. Even grumpy people can't wait, they will yell at the projectionist, and Uncle Gong Xin won't say anything. No matter what the weather is like, as long as there is an audience under the screen, the projectionist will stick to it through thick and thin.

1976 Tangshan earthquake affected Guanzhong.

I remember there was a movie downstairs in the village cinema that night. The audience was watching the excitement when they suddenly felt the bench shaking under their buttocks. The person in front thought that the person behind was playing tricks (joking) and suddenly turned his head. The people behind were busy telling the people in front that their chairs were shaking and someone in the crowd exploded. Earthquake!

Then, the storm suddenly came and the screen was in a panic. Mother cried and cried, and people had no time to take the stool and ran away like a gust of wind. Under the big theater, only Uncle Gong Xin, who is in a hurry, swings back and forth in the wind and rain.

The next day, tired uncle Gong Xin came to the sewing group with a screen blown by the wind and told the terrible scene. Several aunts sincerely gave uncle Gong Xin a thumbs-up sign. Uncle Gong Xin sighed and said with a wry smile, that's our duty, and nothing can damage the film equipment, which is the treasure of our villagers.

As a rural projectionist, Uncle Gong Xin has been traveling in the countryside for decades, measuring the distance between villages again and again and spreading the latest newsletters and movies. ...

After the reform and opening-up, Uncle Gong Xin bought a set of 1000 watt xenon lamp movie projector himself, which made the villagers take a fancy to more advanced and clearer movies. After two years, he bought a set of 5505 Songhuajiang landline weighing 1.3 tons from Xi 'an Jiefang Cinema and fixed it on the trunk. The "mobile projection car" became an instant hit, and the news quickly spread all over the country. Its innovative practices have been affirmed by relevant departments and extended to rural areas as a model.

Time has entered the new century, material life has been greatly enriched, TV video recorders have approached ordinary people, and outdoor movies have gradually faded out of people's sight. All 90,000 projectionists in China were laid off and disappeared. Uncle Gong Xin, who left his post, was not discouraged, and the indomitable spirit of the soldiers was once again reflected. He founded a kindergarten, led his children and won the trust of parents in the town with sincere love. With their efforts, kindergartens have flourished in Dawang Town.

The days are getting better every day. Looking at several movie machines that have been idle at home for many years, my thoughts go back to the days when Dai Yue was flying in Dai Yue, and a film practitioner complex arises spontaneously. I dreamed of going back to the screen countless times, and looked at my dusty "old friend" countless times, feeling dejected. He was disappointed and confused, and learned from his mistakes. He has a bold idea-collecting film projectors. Make up your mind, your heart is better than your action. He traveled all over the cinemas in Xi and visited hundreds of waste collection stations. With the support of his family, it took more than ten years and cost more than 200,000 yuan, and his homemade movie projector collection was born. There are more than 60 sets of film equipment and 560 volumes of precious films in the museum, one of which is the only one in China. On 20 18, Uncle Gong Xin was invited to attend the Nanjing Jiang Xinzhou Open-air Film Festival and was awarded the honorary title of "Public Welfare Filmmaker".

Although the collection can't create any income for him, it has at least fulfilled his dream. It is the epitome of the times, recording the glory of open-air movies, the stormy course of film screening in China, and the 90,000 projectionists scattered in 9.6 million square kilometers. They carry movie equipment and walk like stars in every corner of the village, sending light to the working people all over the world in the dark night.

Nowadays, every year, movie lovers from all over the country visit and exchange in his movie projector collection, looking for the past years in colorful playback.

Although we live together in the same town and live at two o'clock every day, we seldom see Uncle Gong Xin. The memory of Uncle Gong Xin always stays in childhood. Time flies, and I met Uncle Gong Xin at a networking event of the Hu Yi Poetry Association. After the meeting, with everyone's encouragement, I went on stage to sing a Shaanxi opera. When I first stepped down, I was stopped by an old man in the front row. You must be Kang's woman? !

"Uncle Gong Xin!" Although I haven't seen him for years, I recognized him at a glance. When the neighbors meet, they are all very kind. During the chat, they learned that Uncle Gong Xin gave the kindergarten to his son, and now he is concentrating on practicing calligraphy and sculpture.

In a small town, an old man about the same age as Uncle Gong Xin played mahjong or talked about mahjong with a teacup every day, but he spent his old age in another way. Uncle Gong Xin's eyes are as bright, enthusiastic and full of vitality as when he was young. He reveals a cultural atmosphere and the ability to spread culture.

In our town, the history of becoming attached to the city god has a long history. In 204 BC, Ji Xin (according to legend, a native of the first village of Huxian Town) saved Xingyang, burned the body and disappeared, and Gao Zu named it the capital god. This activity was formed and handed down in memory of Ji Xin's saving lives. Organized by Huxian North 19 Ancient Natural Village, it is held once a year on the twelfth day of the first month, and each village is "connected to the city god" in turn every year. This folk activity was rated as a provincial intangible cultural heritage in previous years. Seeing that the statue of the wife of the city god was getting worse every year, Uncle Gong Xin came up with the idea of carving the wife of the city god and donating it for free.

With the support of his family, in his sixties, he embarked on the road of rushing around and carving with great concentration. From looking for wood to composition carving, it took countless nights, sleepless, hard work and a year to complete the sculpture of Ye Po. 65438+At the end of 2009, the town was full of gongs and drums, and the welcoming ceremony was held in front of the kindergarten founded by Uncle Gong Xin. On that day, in the sound of gongs and drums, people saw an uncle who loved culture and tirelessly spread it. In the same year, he was awarded as "Folk Artist of Xi Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center" and "Excellent Arts and Crafts Artist of China" by Xi Mass Art Museum.

In his spare time, his hobbies are out of control. Under his meticulous creation, many woodcut works have won prizes both inside and outside the province. As an old soldier, he donated his carved portrait prints of Chairman Mao to Yan 'an Revolutionary Memorial Hall for free, and his work "Always Follow the Party" was collected by Shaanxi Provincial Art Museum.

One day in the twelfth lunar month last year, at the invitation of Uncle Gong Xin, I walked into his studio. To my surprise, I was greeted by three prints of Mao Zedong in different periods, which were vivid and vivid, and the great man's eyes were firm. The magnificent Spring Snow in Qinyuan brought my thoughts back to that eventful era.

Quietly browsing, I wonder, for an old man close to ancient times, what belief is supporting his dream?

Uncle Gong Xin said that without Chairman Mao, there would be no new China. Yes, under the influence of their parents, their generation has deep feelings for Chairman Mao, and they also have personal feelings from hard times to warm times. This is a kind of seed that is deeply rooted in the soul and bone marrow. Chairman Mao is the savior of the people and his idol. Inspired by this spirit, he devoted his whole life to carving a chisel and an axe, and Du Fu vomited blood.

I seem to see an old man's persistence in chasing the sun in Kuafu for this belief, braving the heat and cold, climbing the mountain in Qinling to find firewood, biting his helmet when he was hungry and drinking spring water when he was thirsty. I can't help but respect this spirit and feel inexplicably moved inside.

From his fifties to his seventies, he used a pair of scarred hands and a carving knife to carve out his love for art in more than ten years. From his calm smile, I saw the persistence in the bones of an ordinary folk artist. In him, I saw the power of faith.

If this hobby originated from a passive livelihood in the past years, it has now evolved into a conscious belief. Seeing the sun, although he is brilliant, the scenery comes at the right time.