In 1983, the China TV Drama Production Center was planning to film "A Dream of Red Mansions" with a total cost budget of 3 million yuan, of which only 750,000 yuan was spent on scene production. If the whole crew went to the south to shoot real scenes, the money would be far from enough, and it would be a pity to build a Grand View Garden set and dismantle it after the filming. Therefore, the center asked Huang Zonghan, who always succeeded by surprise, to plan. Huang Zonghan was the deputy manager of Beijing Television Industry Company at the time, and was hired as a consultant to the China TV Drama Production Center and the general manager of China International Cooperation Corporation.
After careful investigation, Mr. Huang proposed to learn from foreign practices in establishing "film and television bases" and build a permanent real-life grand view garden, which could be used as a filming location for the TV series "Dream of Red Mansions" and as a tourist attraction. A cultural attraction. This suggestion received the attention of the Ministry of Radio, Film and Television and entrusted Mr. Huang to undertake it. But where is the best place to build the Grand View Garden? Where do the funds come from? Huang Zonghan was thinking about everything when he happened to meet his old neighbor Li Ying. Li Ying was the leader of Xuanwu District. He had an affair with Huang Zonghan when the People's Liberation Army entered the city. At this time, he heard that he wanted to contribute to the cultural undertakings of the capital. Li Ying not only provided Nancaiyuan, which was a nursery at the time, as the site for the construction of the Grand View Garden. , and provided a loan of 950,000 yuan.
Huang Lao dreams boldly, but he carefully researches and implements his "dreams". He organized advisory meetings and sought advice from experts. Zhu Jiaxin, an expert on Qing history at the Palace Museum, recommended Yang Naiji, a red scholar and ancient architect. When Yang Naiji held the "Exhibition to Commemorate the 200th Anniversary of Cao Xueqin's Death" in Beijing in 1963, he worked with architect Liang Sicheng and Tsinghua University architecture professor Dai Zhiang to create a 15-square-meter model of the Grand View Garden. After coordination, Yang Gong was transferred as a full-time project engineer, and the Xuanwu District Government specially appointed him as the chief designer of the Grand View Garden to preside over the overall planning and design of the Grand View Garden.
Gong Yang quickly proposed the design plan, which was then demonstrated, revised and finalized by experts and leaders from relevant parties. Immediately, the ancient construction team from Beijing was invited to bring in the wood from the Daxingan Mountains and specially approved dozens of taels of real gold... The craftsmen of the mountain and stone team are said to be descendants of "Shan Zi Zhang", a garden designer in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. The first phase of the project, including winding paths, Yihong Courtyard, Xiaoxiang Pavilion and other 8 scenic spots, was completed as scheduled before the crew of "Dream of Red Mansions" entered the park for filming on July 1, 1985 - it has both the royal style of the north and the southern style. Characteristics of private gardens.
In the future, millions of tourists from Beijing and even the whole country will come to visit the Grand View Garden. The ticket money of "Grandma Liu" not only paid off the loan at the beginning of the first phase of the project, but also accumulated 23 million yuan of funds for the continued construction. It can be said that "a garden is used to nourish a garden" and "a garden is used to build a garden." All 40 scenic spots in the Grand View Garden were built in 8 years.
The Grand View Garden has been named "Beijing Dream of Red Mansions Culture and Art Museum", "16 Scenes of New Beijing", and "Top Ten Buildings in the Capital in the 1980s". Moreover, with the support of the red scholar community, Grand View Garden organized dozens of lectures on red studies, with topics covering the writing process of "A Dream of Red Mansions", character criticism, poetry appreciation and many other aspects, which had an important impact on popularizing red studies. Tianqiao Le Tea Garden reproduces the folk customs of old Beijing. In 1986, Mr. Huang returned to Xuanwu District, where he had been away for many years, as Vice Chairman of the CPPCC. As early as 1956, he served as deputy director of the Propaganda Department of Xuanwu District. Thirty years later, the gap has passed. According to the development strategy of the district committee and government, he began to develop fantastic ideas around Tianqiao folk culture.
The flyover is a treasure of Beijing. It was built in the Yuan Dynasty and gave birth to Beijing’s folk culture, commercial culture and market culture. Among them is the Jiangnan City God Temple (dedicated to Wen Tianxiang). According to records, the City God went on patrol three times a year, with a mighty team that stretched for several miles, including a drum troupe with 50 large drums from neighboring farmers and the Wanmin flag presented to the City God by the common people. After that, the folk Various acrobatic performances such as stilts, Yangko, lion dance, etc. Later, in order to make a living, some people used the empty space of the overpass to perform "on the ground" to earn money after worshiping the gods. Around the temple fair, there are gradually many shops and stalls, and the civilian market is very active.
So, Huang Zonghan, who had a unique vision, advised the government: Folk culture is an advantage, a resource, and a wealth.
He used his royalties to collect and copy a large number of files, materials and historical photos related to Tianqiao culture. He edited and published the albums "History of Tianqiao" and "Beijing Old Tianqiao", which were well received. He also used these materials in his hands to film the TV series "Tianqiao Dream", which reflects the folk culture of Tianqiao, and reflects the stories of old Tianqiao artists in a literary and artistic form.
In 1992, Huang Lao proposed the idea of ??rebuilding the overall plan of Tianqiao, and Tianqiao Le Tea Garden was one of the ideas. District leaders gave strong support, and Xuanwu District Huachang Industry and Trade Company also invested 2 million yuan to renovate Tianqiaole Tea Garden based on the original Tianle Theater. This is an antique tea garden. Audiences are seated and provided with tea and snacks. They can enjoy the performance while eating. The famous playwright Cao Yu inscribed a plaque "Tianqiao Music".
Huang Zonghan and the drama actors then jointly planned the tea garden performance "Tianqiao Style Performance". The script was written by Lan Tianye and directed by Xia Chun. The actors were mostly artists born and raised in Tianqiao. Counting treasures, singing drums, playing foreign movies, doing tricks...the tricks of the old Tianqiao are condensed on the stage. The two corridors under the stage bring together various Beijing snacks, including bean juice, tea soup, haggis, etc. There are also vendors selling flowers and candied haws during the banquet. The grand scene of "Remembering Home" makes people forget to leave.
Elderly people come here to find precious memories of the past; young people come here to personally experience the folk culture of old Beijing; Chinese from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and overseas come here to be deeply attracted by the charm of their homeland culture, which has a unique Nostalgic; there are also many foreign tourists, including US President Nixon and other heads of state, who come here to taste the wonders. So the couplet he wrote for "Tianqiao Music" sums it up well: "Gathering the folk art of Tianqiao; taking an overview of the customs and customs of the old capital." At the same time, the painting he wrote for Mr. Huang: "A beggar in Kyoto, a weirdo in the art world" is also appropriate. "Xuannan is a living fossil in modern history, and Xuannan's dream is my biggest dream." Mr. Huang said.
"Xuannan" is a regional cultural concept, which generally refers to the area south of Xuanwumen in Beijing. According to research by historians, in the fifth year of Shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1649), the Qing government implemented the policy of "separation of Manchus and Hans". All Han officials in the capital lived in the outer city. In addition, most of the literati from all over the country went to Beijing to take exams, and most of them lived here as guests. , thus making the Xuannan area prosperous, with numerous guild halls and a gathering of humanities. People brought advanced cultures from various places to Xuannan, where they integrated and gradually formed a unique regional culture at three levels: royal, scholar, and civilian. Many experts and scholars believe that Xuannan culture is the source, epitome and essence of Beijing's history and culture.
In order to further interpret Xuannan culture, protect and utilize it, Mr. Huang decided to further his studies. In 1995, 64-year-old Huang was elected as a national model worker. At a symposium held by the Organization Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, he expressed his long-cherished wish: "I am like Gao Yubao. I want to study." The leaders of the Organization Department of the Central Committee were deeply impressed by this. Touched, as a result of special approval from the State Education Commission, after passing the examination, he was admitted as a graduate student in the History Department of Renmin University of China with an exception (citizens over 45 years old are not allowed to apply for graduate studies by the state).
After three years of hard study, the 66-year-old Huang obtained a master's degree. Combined with the restoration of the Huguang Guild Hall, his research topic is "Sun Yat-sen and Beijing". He collected a large amount of information, focusing on research on August 25, 1912, when Sun Yat-sen went to the Huguang Hall to participate in the founding meeting of the Kuomintang and his activities in Beijing. He gave appropriate evaluations to Sun Yat-sen, which attracted the attention of overseas academic circles.
In 1999, the 68-year-old Huang went on to obtain a doctoral degree from Renmin University of China. Professor Dai Yi suggested that he study the scholar culture in Xuannan in the Qing Dynasty, so he focused on the activities of three scholar groups in Xuannan: the masters of the Qianjia School, the celebrities in the Xuannan poetry circle, and the pioneers of the 1898 Reform. . He did not expect that the topic he was studying, "Research on the Culture of Scholars in Xuannan, the Capital of the Qing Dynasty," would be listed as a project funded by the National Social Science Fund. He was really happy.
In 2002, at the suggestion of Professor Dai Yi, the 71-year-old Huang extended his study time to study Xuannan culture in depth. The following year, Mr. Huang fell seriously ill and studied while undergoing treatment. On May 28, 2004, after six rounds of chemotherapy, Mr. Huang dragged his weak body to attend the defense of his doctoral thesis.
He smiled and said: "My white blood cells are only 1,000 grams. I took 4 injections of white blood cell-boosting medicine. Are you in good spirits?" At the age of 73, he received his doctorate this year.
Gu Tinglin (Gu Yanwu) of the Qianjia School has lived in Baoguo Temple in Xuannan for a long time. His famous saying "Every man is responsible for the rise and fall of the world" had a great influence on Huang Lao. He said that the spirit of patriotism and national salvation is a characteristic of Xuannan culture. "Countless people in ancient times have the same heart." I am a small person, a common man, and I will do my best to make the motherland prosperous and strong. Apply what you have learned, fill in the gaps, pick up the essence of cultural heritage, and fill the gaps in the cultural market. I have lived in Xuanwu for half a century. I love the fertile cultural land of Xuannan, Beijing, and decided to conduct a series of research on Xuannan culture. My doctoral thesis is just the prelude to this dream.
At present, the National Social Science Fund-funded project "Beijing Xuannan History and Culture" undertaken by Mr. Huang Zonghan has been completed, and he is currently making necessary revisions and supplements to his monograph. At the same time, he was also concerned about the publication of "Grand View Garden Picture Chronicles" and was busy working on it.
The famous cultural figure Huang Zonghan passed away on October 11 at the age of 83.