If a painter spends more than 20 years paying attention to, investigating and recording an ancient village with his brush, what kind of effect will it produce?
The exhibition "Beautiful Monument, Good Monument, True Monument: Lei Ziren's Research on the Present" guided by China Academy of Art and Nanjing University of the Arts was held at Nanjing University of the Arts Art Museum on June 15. The most interesting part of the exhibition is the rural "research" by painter and China Academy of Art professor Lei Ziren. More than 20 years ago, he began to use his brush to record the ancient village of Meibei Village in Jiangxi, which was originally famous for the filming location of movies such as "The Red Star", and has continued to do so until now. As the curator and president of the Beijing Academy of Painting Wu Hongliang said, through more than 20 years of continuous "deepening into life", Lei Ziren used the graphic ink language, different from the way of text recording, to record the changes of Meibei Village, and solidified the memory of this village that is constantly changing in the context of modern changes into a spiritual monument. "The Paper｜Art Review" specially selected Lei Ziwen's records and thoughts on the image history of Meibei.
Meibei 2025
The exhibition site of “Beautiful Monuments, Good Monuments, and True Monuments: A Study of Lei Ziren’s Style” at Nanjing University of the Arts Art Museum
The current residents of Meibei Ancient Village in Ji'an, Jiangxi Province are basically surnamed Liang. Such a large structure has been preserved from ancient times to the present, showing a strong inheritance. The reason why this village has such a great influence is related to the commercial function of the ancient street of Beitou in the ancient village. Movies such as "The Red Star" and "The Breakup" were filmed here. In the past few years, due to the large-scale tourism development, many "non-original" monuments have been added, and the original cobblestone floor with strong use functions of the ancient street has disappeared.
Another part of the investigation of Meibei Village is about the image narrative of the family. "Every family has a central hall" is a representation of its custom. Time and fashion linger on the walls of different families. The gods and all living things on the wall quietly accompany the owner to spend time, and the lucky stars, longevity stars and stars that fill the wall are covered with dust. On these walls that look very tattered, we can read a lot of time tracks. The mixed image connotations are very similar to the appropriation and collage techniques often used in modern art, but these things are free, not imposed by artists, and not deliberately designed by a certain artist for a certain concept. For example, the "stars" on the wall at different time periods reflect the rhythm of this quasi-public space. Other auspicious and blessing images are dutifully and forever guarding the walls of the main hall of every household, which is a heritage from generation to generation for farmers.
The 2005 Meibei Ancient Village Introduction Document on display
In 2025, Meibei Village exhibited "Meibei Portrait·Hu Peizhen", which was completed 10 years ago and Hu Peizhen has passed away.
With the development of tourism in Meibei Village, the things we call cultural relics are becoming less and less, and the "cultural relics" scattered in the villagers' homes are becoming less and less visible. Because of opening up and development, the daily household items that were buried in dust in the past have gradually become valuable. Some have been invited to the village museum, and some have been sold or stolen and left Meibei forever. The beams of the old houses, the gold and red on the caisson, and the family mottos on gold and stone are faintly shining in the dim light. The owners of the houses usually pay a deep affection to these familiar old things because of outsiders. In order to change their lives, the villagers sometimes sell their things. Of course, there are also many poor families who hide their only treasures.
"Protect my descendants" can be seen on the lintel of an old house in Meibei Village. In the poem "Xing'an", it says: "The pearl tent is burning yellow, and the gods have already feasted. They are watching below, and blessings and fortune will come. The cloud chariot and wind horse, the gods are protecting the return. Please protect my descendants, and blessings and fortune will come"; in the poem "Kao'an", it also says: "If the emperor father is so kind, his descendants will be benevolent! Jiajing brought spring to our country and all things. His pure virtue is worthy of the sky. My blessings are as profound as the sky, and they will protect my descendants" (Volume 134, No. 87 of "History of the Song Dynasty"). The image theme of "Protect my descendants" includes an experimental short film of about 9 minutes made with Meibei Village as the background, a group painting of Meibei, a photo of "Yi Cang", and a record of Meibei.
Using images to record some of the craftsmen who are still alive in Meibei also has the meaning of village narrative. Craftsmen can sometimes restore the past living order in fragments.
For example, a group of detailed shots of a barber shaving in the "Protect Me" short film highlights the visual image of the barber's rough hands, sharp scrapers and the faces of the people of Meibei intertwined. Is the visual violence of the other's eyes on the villagers' daily life transformed by the video record purely from an artistic standpoint, or is it derived from the villagers' free life logic? In this work, the representation of customs is subordinate to artistic expression. Through the symbolic expression of "face", we can also imagine how the writing meaning of this village may change in different historical periods when different subject and object roles change.
"Yicang" photo
For some content, we don’t need to use painting language to convert it. It may be meaningful to keep it in the form of recording. However, for other content, such as characters, the meaning of recording with photos is very different from that of painting portraits.
The “Yi Cang” photo activity is actually a random sampling image report I made for the villagers, not a portrait of the villagers in the general sense. In the process of portraiture, we have exchanges including body language. If we regard it as an “event”, it can remind us to pay attention to the special time and space significance between the villagers and the creators. Most of the people who were painted participated in signing their own portraits and taking photos. The “models” are both workers and bystanders. While watching the excitement, they present the quality of life of a certain period of time for their livelihoods, which has the original ecological characteristics of village history.
"Meibei Photo·Liang Renqi" (partial) at the exhibition. The painting has Liang Renqi's own inscription "I can forge iron", and around the painting are inscriptions from his relatives and friends. The work was completed 10 years ago. Liang Renqi is still alive and is 92 years old.
The handwriting of villager Liang Renqi at the exhibition
I used a more traditional language of writing to describe these villagers, based on some of the marks of the times that Meibei has preserved to this day. Some details of the villagers are natural and not fictitious or fabricated. For example, their postures and eyes. I deliberately captured their smiles when they met outsiders. The gaze on this expression conveys the mocking meaning of postmodern art. In essence, it is a question about the survival logic of the villagers, and I try to use such questions to seek to construct the image genealogy of the villagers. The interpretation of the "Yi Cang" photo works on another level needs to be transformed into new meanings through specific displays. They are not mainly regarded as a work of modeling. Four sets of screen devices (including lenses separated by screen panels, ancient pattern door panels, photos, texts, etc.) are used to display these portraits. The sense of presence of the audience and the people in the paintings reflecting each other can interpret some of the connotations of the work.
The text display provides another perspective for viewing the people in these paintings. For example, "The first portrait model looks alert and strong, with a dark complexion. When he talks, there is always a timid joy in the corners of his eyes, but he is kind. ... An hour later, I left his slightly cunning image on the paper. This expression is very similar to the expression he showed when he saw himself being surprised. It also made our mutual surprise and intense satisfaction leak out, so that we reflected such indescribable pride on each other."
A partial view of the "Meibei Photo Album" at the exhibition site
"Mr. Liang Xingyu looks like an old man who needs a lot of sympathy. He walks unsteadily and most of the time he holds a plastic bag with 'concentrated feed for pigs' printed on it in his hand. The bag is empty and blown by the wind. Every time I see him, he is wearing that dark blue, dirty and worn suit. His pair of dull leather shoes stand out against his loose and short trousers." "The sitting statue of Mr. Yuan Caifeng holding a dragon staff is more dignified than the standing one. Her head of pure white hair is attached with a small black hairpin, which is eye-catching. The old woman has a ruddy complexion and speaks very little. She sits motionless, kind and majestic, like the Queen Mother of the West in movies or the grandmother of a royal family. But she has always been a tailor."
The photo shows Mr. Yuan Caifeng and his sitting portrait
"Old man Chang Tao had a full mouth of false teeth, which expressed his smile in white and neat manner. In the portrait, I did not open his mouth to show his white teeth, and he felt that the way he held the farm tools did not express his temperament. Later, he compared himself and said that other people's portraits were more like him, and he was not very satisfied with the portrait of himself." "The widow had a long and broad face with almost no feminine characteristics. The long dark blue work clothes highlighted her height. She stood in the front left of my drawing board in an unusually simple manner. ... Her smile was not ambiguous, but generous and occasionally shy. Her eyebrows were abrupt, and her single eyelids were circled by thick black eyelashes, making her eyes look a little small. When she was not smiling, her eyes were sunken between her eyebrows, and her long chin pulled the faint sadness overflowing from her eyes. ... She did not hide her bitterness and pain, and was unusually frank that she was ugly and not good-looking, but she said with relief that her husband was beautiful and only married her because of his poor family background."
The "widow" in the photo and her portrait
"There are two women in the village who pick up garbage to make a living. Wei Sanli is the one who is called the 'garbage woman'. She almost makes a living by picking up garbage and has a gentle temperament. In the village, under several familiar faces, she is accustomed to picking up debris. Her wrinkled face has been shrinking her smile, and she is always showing a seemingly smile." "There is no identity hint of Li Jinfa in the portrait, just like he came and went silently. This outsider who lives in Meibei but is not a 'famous literary family' or 'well-dressed family', stays unusually quietly on the land where the Liang ancestors' glory shines."
Mibei Tuji
1. The public health in the village is sometimes good and sometimes bad. The special sweepers hired due to tourism development have become the focus of more and more health issues. Township officials said that some people in the village are unhappy because they can't get paid because they can't become sweepers, and some people complain that the money they earn from sweeping is too little when they happen to have better jobs to earn money when they can become sweepers. Many chickens and dogs still poop and pee randomly on the tourist routes. The owners don't want to care about their animals running wild, not to mention that there are now paid people to clean up. The paid sweepers don't know whether to hate those disobedient animals or the many Liang descendants who don't know how to cherish their homes.
The sweeper looks very ordinary in the sunshine.
2. A guide sign with the words "Former Residence of Mao Zedong" is nailed on the wall of "Mingjiao Ledi". This old house has become a place visited by most tourists. People from Meipi and people from other villages who must pass through Meipi on market days sometimes file into an alley at the side wall of the old house. The red flowers and green leaves on the opposite wall sway in the wind under the bright autumn sun, shading the busy farmers carrying loads and hoes to the market. There are probably a few green bushes in the abandoned place behind the iron gate in the distance, but they don't know the bright autumn red outside the wall.
3. The old "Pitou Middle School" in Wenchang Pavilion. On the left side of the school gate is an old house bought by Liang Xinshan from someone else. It was built in the 1950s and is adjacent to the ancient street. It has a bit of history. The auxiliary room at the corner in front of the old house was built casually. Irregular yellow bricks are piled up like a shed, connected to a small stone bridge. This temporary hut is prominently located at the corner of the ancient street. The word "SARS" is clearly visible. There are always lazy or pleasure-seeking chickens and dogs on the eaves and the small stone bridge. They seem to like the joys and sorrows of life.
4. The Wanshou Palace, which was destroyed in 1987, has only one side wall left, with vague slogans or aphorisms on it. The old house opposite the outer wall has the style of the collective period of the 1950s and 1960s. The cement space between the two has now become a place for villagers to dry grain. The grain faces the morning sun and reflects the light coldly. It is hard to imagine what kind of architecture and scenery this prosperous place once had.
5. Walking through the ancient street, the corner leading to the "Lianlizhang" is a mixture of houses of different ages, and only the narrow cobblestone road is vaguely discernible. This place is not independent of the other end of the ancient times. The walls of not long ago surround the houses of different ages. The balcony with tiles in the courtyard strongly marks the intentions of the house owner and the special stop of time. There are large and small porcelain jars or tile plates on the walls that are not specially used for planting flowers. Fresh branches and leaves are piled up, simply expressing the personal preferences of the farmers. The villagers do not look at them with appreciation. Perhaps only outsiders can perceive a sense of recognition from a foreign land.
6. The complete picture can be seen from any angle of the ancient street. The sunlight echoes every living creature that appears. The whole street is like a natural stage, and any sliding details can appropriately return to their respective roles.
Meibei October 8, 2006
7. At the eastern end of the ancient street, a low red brick and tile house expresses the gentleness of the autumn sun and the joy of the red lanterns, like grapefruits hanging on branches, green and golden written at the end of the ancient street, and farmers busy in autumn flicker in the pouring of time.
8. Two new snack bars have opened opposite the town government office. One of them looks very temporary, but both are doing very well. Most of the customers are students from the nearby Zengshan School. The busiest time is at noon. These students from farming families, who are better dressed than their parents, also enjoy better food. The busy parents carrying loads and their parents are separated in between, separating different qualities, just like a mixture of old and new houses, all showered with warm sunshine.
9. All the scenery in the township government office is not ostentatious. The small basketball court, the towering water storage tower, the simple flat-roofed building, the wall decorated with red glazed tiles, and the screen wall inscribed with "Serve the People" are usually not harmoniously placed together, but they all reflect the blue sky clearly and experience the same dust as the outside of the wall. I don't know if the water in the tower has a source that intersects with the Mi Pond.
10. The gate of Wenpi Township Government is not guarded by a guard, lacking the usual Chinese majesty. The large iron gate opens from morning to 10 pm, and rarely does anything ominous happen. Except for villagers who have to enter the courtyard for something, few people come in and out. Even the "garbage grandma" of Meipi and a few elementary school students from "Zengshan School" occasionally visit, and usually come and go freely, which does not make people feel that there is a need to be on guard in this government official place. The noise outside the gate and the peace inside the courtyard are in their proper place, so that the dogs inside and outside the courtyard peacefully have their own territory. It seems that the rules are just a wall.
11. From Ji'an City to the township government compound, you usually have to go through a narrow uphill road. At the intersection with the highway, there is a large billboard promoting "Dongjinggang Rafting", and the sign on it also significantly exaggerates the importance of this road. Most of the time, dogs from roadside restaurants or farmers go up and down here, and the sounds of motorcycles, bicycles, villagers, township cadres and foreign guests, together with the propaganda slogans hung across the fork at the end of the road, mix together to create a graceful style like light and shadow.
12. Heavy trucks carrying people and goods sometimes parked in prominent places in the market, making the people who came to the market look small. In the afternoon autumn sun, the blue color of the trucks was extremely exaggerated. The leaves of the sycamore trees swayed in the wind, and the red slogans on the streets and the chickens and dogs looking for food constantly restored a color that belonged to the rural Meibei.
Part of "Taegae" 2021 Blue and white porcelain plate 200×100cm
13. There is a stone arch bridge built in the 1990s on the Fushui River in the center of the market street leading to Yao Lake. It looks like an old thing from the 1950s. Every day, villagers, students from farming families, livestock, rickshaws, motor vehicles or trucks flow back and forth on both sides of the river. More tiled houses have been newly built at one end of Yao Lake. The ancient camphor trees on the lakeshore set off the colorful buildings in the countryside, echoing the atmosphere of a new countryside. In fact, the Fushui River has been dry and rainless for several months. The water is shallow and the waves are flat. The rumbling sound of the sand pump has stirred up the autumn water in the river.
14. The old houses at the north end of the market suggest that this area has its own glorious past. The traces left over from the collective farming period are still faintly discernible, and the damaged and exposed red dirt road strikingly responds to the afterglow of the setting sun, engraved like tree rings at the end of Meibei.
15. The setting sun shines through the autumn branches, shining on the broken earth and stone road surface. The old houses and old walls are crowded with climbing remaining green, which makes the days age crookedly.
…
Meibei
Meibei Series
Xiangshui
Meibei Village is surrounded by mountains and water, and has a natural beauty. The genealogy and local chronicles say that "Xiang Peak stands in the east, Xiangling Ridge protects the west, Yao Mountain rises in the south, and Fushui flows in the north." The streams and rivers surrounding the west and north of the village, as well as ponds of all sizes throughout the village, provide villagers with sufficient irrigation, washing, transportation, and drinking water.
There are 28 ponds in the village, corresponding to the 28 constellations. Most of them are distributed in the east, south and west of the village, and the smaller ones are scattered in the north of the village. The 13 ponds on the north side of the village are connected by the tributaries of the Mishui River, and the source of fresh water keeps gurgling. The Fushui River has a long history. Before the upstream reservoir was built, the river was wide and deep, and large sailboats could reach Ji'an and enter the Ganjiang River.
Today, the riverbed of the Fushui River is shallow. After a night of rain, the river water rises sharply and floods occur. But when the weather clears up one day, the water becomes shallow again and the rocks are exposed. The once prosperous ancient transport wharf is abandoned on the shore. Occasionally, even if children play by the river, they cannot splash any water.
There are several machines pumping water and dredging sand not far from each other on both sides of the river. The rumbling sound can be heard from the street, making the river seem even narrower. The "Dongjinggang First Drift" designed for tourists can only barely remind people of the floating scene of white sails passing by on the Fushui River during the peak tourist season of Golden Week.
The green mountains are still shaded by the shallow water, because the spring is so green that even a pool of water can illuminate people. Fortunately, there are many spring rains in Meibei, so the sound of water can still be heard in the Fushui River.
Sun Shower
In April, frogs croak, purple swallows fly south, and cuckoos sing. In the fields, farmers plow the fields, grow seedlings, and plant rice seedlings. Compared with the past, farmers use scientific methods to reduce the labor of weeding and transplanting rice seedlings. Farmers jokingly call what they plant now "lazy fields."
Men who plant lazy fields don't like to sit at home. The ridges, villages and markets are not far apart, and they usually go back and forth between them. There is no working time, they manage themselves and walk freely. Most of the young men and women in the village go out to work, which makes these originally lonely individuals "lazy" and leisurely due to the hustle and bustle of the market day. They seem to be so in step with each other. On a sunny day with a sudden rain, three men holding umbrellas and carrying hoes run in the sun and rain just for a small bundle of vegetables, a chicken and a piece of meat.
Birds
Motorbikes in the countryside usually pick up passengers carrying loads and bags along the way, swaying back and forth on the country roads, creating a lively atmosphere in the warm spring days. Crowded with strangers speaking different dialects, the sound of the motor resounds through the mountain streams, the feeders and the captors are disturbed in their own joy, and the sky is filled with leisurely clouds.
Part of the Meibei Group of Paintings
Market day
After Meibei became a tourist attraction, two horse breeders in the village started a business with horses, and horses were used as props for people to ride and take photos. Horses have a good understanding with their owners, and they are even very close to their owners. There is an old barber named Luo in the village next to Meibei. He always does business in the open air in a fixed corner on the street on market days and earns a small income. Most of the people who sit down to get their hair cut are farmers who go to the market. Dogs on the street like to make trouble around them, and passing cars and horses can't steal their scenery. Getting a haircut on the street is like a performance. Farmers who have their hair cut usually say goodbye to the barber with a smile, like a warm spring moon, with the fragrance of spring grass and flowers in the air.
The horses being watched, the barbers or their customers enjoy the prosperity and bustle brought by the market day. The barbers’ equipment is bathed in the sunshine of the market day year after year, and is cherished by their owners like antiques.
Old photos of Meibei
Meibei·Early Spring-3 19cm×25cm Pencil on paper 2014
Foraging
Farmers are busy with farm work out of inertia. Hard work pays dividends, and laziness has its own reasons. The grass on the ground grows overnight. If they are busy with neatness and fineness, and only do it for the sake of appearance, they will think it is a futile effort. Being able to eat, sleep and have fun is real beauty, and does not need exaggeration or decoration. Artists' perception of beauty is usually unrelated to the reality they feel.
"Mi Pond Series·Food Gathering" Color on paper 196 cm × 156 cm 2006
In the spring moon in the countryside, the mountains are covered with green, and the white clouds after the rain are lingering, making the whole place dim. Farmers get up early in the morning and return home in the evening, harvesting a basket of small vegetables, and occasionally getting a piece of wild game, which blooms like mountain flowers. The cries of captured birds are like the twists and turns of the mountain road, dissipating in the clouds and mist.
(Note: The original title of this article is "Protect Me: A History of Images of Meibei", excerpted and published by The Paper)
"Beautiful Monument, Good Monument, True Monument: A Study of Lei Ziren's Style" Nanjing University of the Arts Art Museum