[Explanation] In the streets and alleys of Hong Kong, you can see all kinds of text signs everywhere, and most of the true type signs are made by one person, that is, Hong Kong true type writer Ouyang Chang.
Ouyang Chang has a small stall in the Royal Theater Mall in North Point. He helps guests make signs and light boxes. In the colorful signs, he is dressed in a white suit with a roll of cigarettes. He has been doing it for 30 years.
[Explanation] What he is most proud of is his good handwriting. What he is best at is the Zhenti Zi that has been inherited from the Tang Dynasty. Every time someone asks, he proudly says, "The Zhenti Zi, I Ouyang Chang is the first person."
[Concurrent] Ouyang Chang, a character writer
The true body characters come from the Tang Dynasty and are invented by Ouyang Xun.
At that time, I wanted to learn Zhentizi based on a sentence from my mother. Only when we did something very important, we could use Zhentizi. Only the relatives and relatives of the emperor could learn it, and they could not spread to the people.
When I was young, my father took a pig and changed a lot of copybooks, such as Yan Zhenqing, Ouyang Xun, Wang Xi, etc. The actual characters are not easy to learn, unlike those that are so easy to learn as black pepper steak. The fragrance of plum blossoms comes from the bitter cold, and the actual characters are only learned by me (lighting) the fire lantern.
[Explanation] Ouyang Chang has accompanied the prosperity and decline of the Huangdu Theater Mall. In the 1970s, the Huangdu Theater was a place of leisure and entertainment for men, women and children. The theater on the top floor can accommodate 1,200 people, and the three-story shopping mall downstairs also has Hundreds of shops are very lively.
Ouyang Chang's shop is just the only way from the mall to the theater. People come and go every day and business is booming.
At the peak, Ouyang Chang's shop had 20 workers.
A fire in 1995 burned all the prosperity of the Huangdu Theater, and only Ouyang Chang's signature store remained.
[Concurrent] Ouyang Chang, a character writer
There are probably over a thousand signboards (I did it). I didn’t do it alone. Many people started working together. Before, there were more than 20 people working together. Since the fire burned, few people have done it.
There was a fire in 1995. It was not on my side. There was a fire on the other side. It burned for four days and four nights, and burned my finished products close to 300,000 yuan. There are still many films, which should be hundreds of thousands of goods.
It costs money to relocate. If I don’t have this place and cannot find another place to move, these words may be lost.
[Explanation] After the great fire in 1995, Ouyang Chang still faced difficulties.
The government began to restrict and remove neon signboards in 2010, which reduced the demand for the signboard market in Hong Kong. At the same time, new computer printing technology also reduced the cost of signboard production, and hand-made signboards were gradually replaced.
But in Ouyang Chang's mind, the handwritten authentic characters have the beauty that the printed characters cannot replace.
[Concurrent] Ouyang Chang, a character writer
(True type character) There is a sentence called “Zhong Pao Pen”. Every time you write it, it looks like a big pause, with a tight structure. It means that his pen is used to write the entire character in one piece, like a picture. You Just look at the bottom of his pen and write it down. In short, it won't be drooping, it won't be rotten, it won't be torn apart, you can see that every word is sticky.
[Explanation] In addition to writing the first-hand "true body characters", Ouyang Chang also created the original "luminous color technology", incorporating translucent and colorful materials into the signboard production, forming a unique "luminous color true body characters" signboard.
Nowadays, Ouyang Chang is 64 years old, and the "true body characters" and "luminous color technology" he is proud of are rarely paid attention to by young people.
Ouyang Chang said that he has been working hard to find the heirs, regardless of whether the hope is slim or not, whenever he sees the light box he made lit up again, he feels that such beautiful words and culture should not disappear like this.
[Concurrent] Ouyang Chang, a character writer
I’m over 60 years old, and my hands are shaking, and slowly I can’t write words. I hope to spread those words quickly and more people will learn them, because I don’t have a place to teach them, these words will be lost. .
I (hope) can find a shop outside, and teach others to write, I can make some "luminous colors" that I invented, and I can teach others to make "luminous colors", that's fine.
Yubuting Zhang Hongwei reports from Hong Kong
Editor in charge: [Wang Yu]