China News Service, Chengdu, March 8th, title: Collection of nearly 10,000 pieces of folk stone carvings, 70-year-old sculptor, Hebei Bashu culture passed down from generation to generation

  Author congratulations

  Pushing open the dark red door and entering the door of Chengdu Zhucheng Stone Carving Art Museum, the veil of tens of thousands of collections and works is lifted.

Passing through the corridor, there are disorganized and randomly placed objects on both sides, and these are the collections spanning two thousand years of history collected by Zhu Cheng, curator of Chengdu Zhucheng Stone Carving Art Museum. Poverty Aesthetic Architecture".

  The "brick" historical and cultural wall of Kuanzhai Alley, represented by the semi-relief work "Horseback Pile"; the square of sculptures of Chinese warriors in the Jianchuan Museum; the Deyang stone carving art wall, a public art work in the city known as the "spectacle of contemporary art"... In Sichuan, many of the landmark public art sculptures are works that Zhu Cheng participated in and hosted.

Zhu Cheng and his collection.

Photo by Wang Lei

  "My name is Zhu Cheng. 'Cheng' is a success in Chengdu, not a successful one." The 76-year-old Zhu Cheng was born in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. Under the influence of the family atmosphere since childhood, Zhu Cheng loved painting and architecture. .

Thirty years ago, Zhu Cheng rented a five-acre open space in the western suburbs of Chengdu. It was originally used as a creative space, and later it gradually became a private museum for him to collect and display Bashu folk stone carvings of past dynasties.

This is due to his cherishing of folk stone carvings and his feelings for the history and culture of Bashu.

  "The collection of folk stone carvings has brought me a lot of inspiration for my creation, and the income from the creation is also used to collect these folk stone carvings that are different from those in public museums. Every collection here is very precious and cannot be measured by price." Zhu Cheng said that since the 1970s, he has spent nearly 10 million yuan in collecting these Bashu folk stone carvings, woodware, stoneware and pottery.

As a sculptor, Zhu Cheng has collected so many collections, and he can also explore to become a museum where history and art coexist.

  Stone monuments, Chinese bricks, Buddha statues... There are no display windows or showcases, and each display is tightly placed.

Without the obstruction of glass, visitors can "close contact" with each work and see the texture of each collection. The collections under the simple sheds constitute the texture of the Chengdu Zhucheng Stone Carving Art Museum.

In 2001, the Sichuan Provincial Administration of Cultural Relics approved the establishment of the Zhu Cheng (Private) Stone Carving Art Museum, which became one of the four major private museums in Sichuan Province at that time.

  From an open space to today's dozen or so "halls", each "hall" is full of collections, carrying one story after another.

After the establishment of the museum, many people from dozens of countries and regions, such as the United States, South Korea, and Japan, came here, and they were all amazed at the richness of the museum's collection.

The museum has not yet been opened to the public, because "the environment really does not meet the conditions for being open to the society", and it is like a labyrinth inside, and it will get lost if you are not careful.

  "I have a clear understanding of my body. I have done a lot of creation as early as 40 or 50 years old, because I know that with the increase of age, my creative ability will weaken." The 76-year-old Zhu Cheng is still alive Not only that, but he also brought many apprentices.

Zhu Cheng checks his work.

Photo by Wang Lei

  In a hut in the museum, yoga mats, treadmills, dumbbells and other fitness equipment can be seen everywhere. These are the equipment that Zhu Cheng used to exercise, and now he still goes to the gym to exercise.

"I am a person with lofty ambitions. If I don't protect my body, how can I realize my ambition?" The nearly 10,000 collections are a heavy responsibility for this rare old man.

  "These Bashu folk cultural relics are all the creations of the ancestors of Bashu's children." Zhu Cheng did Bashu culture research around these collections, and made his own contemporary creations around these collections.

Now he is also beginning to plan the final destination for these "extraordinary collections in poor aesthetic buildings".

  "Nowadays, Chengdu is vigorously promoting the construction of a park city. I also hope to integrate my museum into the construction of a park city to build an ecological park that is not only beautified and greened, but also a modern and contemporary Bashu art gene cultural park." Zhu Cheng hoped One day, he will be able to display these literary and artistic treasures openly to the society, so that everyone can feel the Bashu culture contained in the folk stone carvings, and let the Bashu culture be passed on from generation to generation.

(over)