"I only had dinner with Director Wong Kar-Wai once before. I didn't expect that he would remember me and ask me to play Quarrel... I am actually the worst at quarreling..." As a pianist, he starred in the scolding battle in "Flowers" without a script. Kong Xiangdong revealed the behind-the-scenes footage of this hit drama -
. When he saw Ma Yili, who was playing the opposite role, he thought of the way he used to quarrel with his wife, and they started to quarrel all of a sudden. "I'm very lucky, I passed after taking 13 pictures." At the first Shanghai-Hong Kong Cultural Academic Forum on March 10, Kong Xiangdong spoke of the origin of this period of cultural cooperation between Shanghai and Hong Kong, and together with the Chinese painter Chen Jialing became the "Shanghai Culture" Communication Ambassador”.
Kong Xiangdong’s performance in 2024. Photo by Lai Xinlin
Kong Xiangdong is a native of Shanghai, born in 1968. He remembers that when he was 6 years old, there were no new pianos for sale in Shanghai, and the only place to buy pianos was in thrift stores. When his mother wanted him to learn piano, there was no piano at home. So, my mother found a piece of cardboard and drew the keys on the cardboard, a total of 3 octaves. "I play a note and sing a note. When I play with both hands, my mother sings with me." He said with a smile that he didn't know that the piano had a sound at that time. Later, he often joked with his mother: "Mom, you It’s so awesome, he drew a tablet for me at that time!”
“Do you want to hear Shanghainese or Cantonese? Or Mandarin or English? It’s all fine.” In Kong Xiangdong’s eyes, “Our city faces the sea. The so-called facing A city by the sea is tolerant." He told his literary and artistic colleagues that Shanghai-style culture is a kind of persistence, an obsession, and even to a certain extent, a kind of perseverance, maintaining a state of free flying, and always allowing oneself to open up. .
In January this year, Kong Xiangdong came on stage and waved to the audience. Photographed by Lai Xinlin
"I can't act, but during the filming of "Flowers" I have been capturing the joys and sorrows of life I have experienced, which can become an instant inspiration." Kong Xiangdong also made a small wish, "I hope that soon In the future, I can create a piano work of Shanghai style culture." He revealed that he is currently in the process of brewing and accumulating some inspiration every day, "I am going to write a "Flower Piano Music", and I hope that Shanghai University Shanghai Culture Research Center will participate in it when it is published. ." As one of the hosts of the forum in cooperation with the Shanghai Tang Junyuan Education Foundation, Cheng Danhong, Secretary of the Party Committee of Shanghai University, invited Kong Xiangdong to premiere "Flowers Piano Music" on the campus of Shanghai University.
Chen Jialing's Chinese herbal medicine art calligraphy and painting and "Compendium of Materia Medica" exhibition.
Another "Shanghai-style cultural exchange ambassador", Chen Jialing, an old Shanghainese, has bloomed, opening a Shanghai-style art exhibition on the Shanghai campus, and complementing traditional Chinese medicine, which is also an excellent traditional Chinese culture. In early March, as a professor at the Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts of Shanghai University, Chen Jialing gave a lecture on "The Art of Chinese Herbal Medicine Calligraphy and Painting and the Beauty of the "Compendium of Materia Medica"" at the Shanghai Museum of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and opened the "Qihuang Paintings for Benefiting Humanity - Chen Jialing's Chinese Herbal Medicine Art Calligraphy and Painting and the "Compendium of Materia Medica" Exhibition" , exhibiting more than ten Chinese herbal medicine-themed calligraphy and painting works such as albizia flowers, lilacs, and lilies.
"Chinese calligraphy and painting and Chinese medicine come from the same origin, and our pens are like the needles you use for acupuncture. Chinese-style modernization requires learning from others' strengths and being inclusive, while Chinese calligraphy, painting and traditional Chinese medicine need to 'serve the past for the present, and foreign things for China.'" As the reform and opening up As one of the first Chinese painters to go abroad since then, Chen Jialing, in answering students' questions, hoped that students at Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine would integrate and innovate on the road of integrating traditional Chinese and Western medicine.
Paintings and drawings, wonderful pens praising Qi Huang. "From ancient times to the present, Chinese literati have a special liking for lotus. According to traditional Chinese medicine, lotus, lotus leaves, lotus seeds, and lotus roots all have medicinal value, and I created the 'Lotus Trilogy' to closely follow the reform of our country. An open background." Chen Jialing described the process of creating the three lotus paintings "Release", "Xiaguang" and "Unstained". These works symbolize the open self-confidence, the brilliance of national culture and the realm of the wisdom of the Chinese nation.
What’s interesting is that Chen Jialing used Shanghainese to summarize the cultural genes of Shanghai style, which are: fashionable, modern, and “Kele”.He further explained that fashion means leadership, modernity means creativity, and "Koehler" means classicness. In his view, in the new era, Shanghai-style culture, which is "both east and west", combined with Jiangnan culture and red culture, creates a chemical reaction and is the same "good thing".
"New Shanghai-style ink painting and Shanghai-style traditional Chinese medicine are important components of Shanghai-style culture. We must inspire the leadership, creativity and classicity of Shanghai-style culture and make new contributions to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation." The old painter said. A reporter from Jiefang Daily and Shangguan News learned that at the same time as the launch, the short videos of "Shanghai School of Traditional Chinese Medicine" were officially released. These videos will also become a new carrier to convey the wisdom and charm of Shanghai School of Traditional Chinese Medicine culture to the Yangtze River Delta, the country and even the world.
He further explained that fashion means leadership, modernity means creativity, and "Koehler" means classicness. In his view, in the new era, Shanghai-style culture, which is "both east and west", combined with Jiangnan culture and red culture, creates a chemical reaction and is the same "good thing"."New Shanghai-style ink painting and Shanghai-style traditional Chinese medicine are important components of Shanghai-style culture. We must inspire the leadership, creativity and classicity of Shanghai-style culture and make new contributions to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation." The old painter said. A reporter from Jiefang Daily and Shangguan News learned that at the same time as the launch, the short videos of "Shanghai School of Traditional Chinese Medicine" were officially released. These videos will also become a new carrier to convey the wisdom and charm of Shanghai School of Traditional Chinese Medicine culture to the Yangtze River Delta, the country and even the world.
