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他有多种身份，并在其中转换自如、游刃有余。他曾经这样总结自己：一流的室内设计师，二流的酒店管理者，三流的作家，四流的编剧。他虽然身为酒店业国企高层，也曾是中国最富有的作家之一，但因为这些年来深深痴迷黄花梨收藏，梦想打造一座独一无二的中国黄花梨艺术馆，他倾其所有，乐此不疲，成为国内黄花梨藏品最多的收藏家。对他来说，黄花梨已经变成新的事业的一部分，也成为他最热衷的文化传承的事业。
他就是“一脚踏在文化里面，一脚踏在文化外面”的海岩先生。
He wears many hats and seems to be extremely comfortable with whatever role he is playing at any given moment. He mocked himself as a first-rate interior designer, a second-rate hotel manager, a third-rate writer and a fourth-rate screen-writer. He is a senior executive of a state-owned hotel, and one of the richest writers in China. Obsessed with Huanghuali, he dreams of creating the one and only China Huanghuali Museum. He gives all he has for this purpose and is arguably the No.1 collector of Huanghuali in China. He loves nothing better than this mission.
You know him. He is Haiyan, the celebrity who moves in and out of the circle of culture at ease.
近日，在北京昆仑饭店的岩酒廊里，海岩接受了《私人飞机》杂志的专访，以一位收藏家的身份向我们讲述了他的收藏故事。
缘起：元亨利的那一眼
海岩说，他恋上黄花梨只是由于那偶然的一瞥。11年前，海岩和同事到河北香河看中式家具，回来的路上经过燕莎的元亨利明清家具店，他想进店看看，朋友们说那里卖的是黄花梨家具，看了会中毒，就拔不出来了。“听他们这么说，我更要下车一看究竟，果不其然，这一看，中的毒到现在还没有消退。”
“那是我第一次接触黄花梨，我当时看了一眼就被强烈地吸引住了。逐渐开始迷恋一个完整的黄花梨文化，不仅是它的历史，还包括形、意、材的整个审美。然后开始不断学习，直到在木器这个圈子里有了点名气。”海岩回忆道。
海岩认为，黄花梨不温不燥，不卑不亢，不寡不喧，特别适合打造简洁凝练的素身家具，但凡喜爱中国传统文化的人，都会对明式黄花梨家具产生共鸣，黄花梨家具也被称为文人家具。也许正是海岩骨子里的人文气质与黄花梨的独特魅力相辅相成才让他扎根其间。现在海岩已是中国家具协会传统家具委员会高级顾问和中华文化促进会木作文化工作委员会的副主任。黄花梨专家对他来说名副其实。
海岩的前几件黄花梨家具是马未都介绍撮合的，第一件黄花梨是一件有400年历史的明代条案，之后他又买了一件新做的黄花梨条案，条案上有黄花梨特有的流水纹，案上还有雀眼，俗称“鬼脸”。“马未都说这上面28个小‘鬼脸’，就像银河系里的28个星宿。后来元亨利的老板杨波也教了我很多相关知识。”从此海岩便开始痴迷其中。
从无到有，积少成多，现在海岩手中的黄花梨藏品已多达400多件，这些藏品无论器形无论材质皆为其心头所好，海岩也无法举出最喜欢的一件来。他迷恋明式家具那种不事雕琢的造型与线条，熟知这对西方现代家具的极简风格具有启蒙价值，只要说起黄花梨，他就兴趣盎然娓娓道来，但谁会想到，商人兼文人的海岩也会为缺钱所困扰呢？
收藏：抢拍与软磨硬泡
海岩自述其每一件藏品到手都极为不易，有的看中了几年以后才能到手。对于收藏者来说，最大的遗憾就是错过，海岩也不例外。“因为黄花梨诱惑太大，我曾给自己定下一个规矩，去看黄花梨只带来回打车的钱。这样，看到中意的黄花梨家具，虽然心痒，但只能忍下。隔一周再去看，如果仍然爱不释手，那么第三周就带上钱包。但有很多次，第二周去看时，那件黄花梨就已经被人买走了……”有“错过”的遗憾就有“捡漏”的意外之喜，海岩透露，有一次拍卖行公开拍卖黄花梨家具，竞争激烈，本来他没抱任何希望，没想到竞价对手被一个朋友电话影响了注意力，拍卖槌落下，他也因此获得了一份意外之喜。
自从海岩在圈内出名后，很多行家就会告诉他藏品藏家的信息，双方坐在一起谈转让。而黄花梨原料价现在的价格已经达到每吨2000万元至3000万元，如此高价让海岩着实吃不消，看中哪件材料、工艺都特别好的新黄花梨，他就先交几万元的定金，然后就开始为资金犯愁，拖延付款日期。
“因为当时没钱啊，但拿不出钱这件东西就没有了，有的店里就给这件黄花梨贴上‘海岩老师已购’的标签，当店主催我付余款时，我就借口不在国内，有个别情况是我拖了两三年才把钱凑够去提货，但价格已经涨得很高，比如这件黄花梨交定金时是40万，两年后已经100万了，店主说有人出80万我都没卖，海岩你得补点。我没办法就只能软磨硬泡想办法买到手。”俗话说“一文钱难倒英雄汉”，外人恐怕无法想象海岩会以这种狡黠的方式来收购藏品。
“中式家具有一种文化传承，每次欣赏都会有新发现、新感觉，别人是大隐于市，我是‘大隐于古’。”他还调侃称，黄花梨还能抵抗自己的轻微抑郁症，“有一段时间我看见什么都烦心，医生说可能是轻微抑郁症，不是多大的事儿，要是有一个爱好，病就能不药而愈。”
被称为文化奇人的张伯驹曾为了一幅名画把自己的四合院变卖，老婆不给钱他躺在地上不起来耍赖，这些看似疯颠的故事，海岩说他喜欢收藏后才真正理解了这种痴迷。
黄花梨艺术馆：完成大师遗愿
有了这400多件黄花梨珍品，海岩正在筹建中国第一家黄花梨艺术馆，选址在顺义，由于艺术馆正在进行暖气改造，所有黄花梨家具都拆卸并包装起来，本刊也暂时无缘得见。
海岩告诉本刊，这个艺术馆还在规划中，拟分几期建设，并增加体验项目，这也是文物研究与收藏大家王世襄先生的遗愿。而他与王老神交已久，王世襄在很多国家看到过黄花梨明清家具的藏品，有些还是镇馆之宝，他希望世界上有一家艺术馆能在明清建筑里面按照古人的生活方式来陈列这些珍品家具。
“看到的不仅仅是家具之美，还能看到我们祖先的居住文明和生活品味。可能西方的发达国家还在经历海岛文化和游牧文化时，中国人的生活品味情趣、人生哲学就已经达到了如此的高度，建艺术馆就是想通过艺术馆全景式地介绍中国传统文化。美国的一个基金会曾愿意帮王老实现这个心愿，并在旧金山买了一块地，王老也曾亲自赴美踏勘并表示满意，但是由于资金问题，项目直到王老去世也未做成。”谈起建立艺术馆的初衷，海岩一改之前的收藏之乐，更加执着与真诚。
海岩的设想是艺术馆以中国传统的建筑，按照生活的常态，让来参观的人能亲身感受到中国传统的生活起居状态，设置体验功能，比如在黄花梨大床上睡一觉，在桌上吃一顿饭，喝茶听戏等。与一般会所的盈利不同，这里以文化展示为目的，甚至把贵重家具摆出来让参观者直接接触和试用。但是仿明清建筑的成本投入非常大，人工也很难找，甚至建筑设计、园林规划、彩绘等等海岩都在学习并努力亲自设计。海岩也坦言，因为资金问题只能把艺术馆项目作为文化项目寻求合作，寻求多方投资者加入，再利用贷款，因为项目盈利并不乐观和现实。“如果是一个很好的盈利项目会有一堆人围上来，但现在只能看在文化的面子上，谁是真正的爱好者，谁对弘扬传统文化有兴趣才愿意真正投资而不问回报。”在商界文化界浸淫多年的海岩深知当今社会的功利与文化传承的抵触。
传统文化：需要传承与敬意
尽管拥有如此一批巨量的黄花梨家具，但海岩始终为了打造艺术馆这个梦想坚守着，藏品只进不出，或者以物换物来优化藏品。
海岩告诉本刊，他会问清楚投资艺术馆的人是为盈利还是为公益事业，当有人提到投资回报率时就无法再谈了。“目前国内的慈善公益事业救助性质的很多，偏重文化传承事业的很少。像我这样倾其所有、不自量力地做一件事情，会有很多人不理解。”
正因为海岩的多重身份，所以他看待文化的角度和深度更与众不同。海岩认为，现在中国文化面临被边缘化的危机，有句话叫“民族的就是世界的”，但近几十年社会文化发展证明，越是西方的才越是世界的。
“我因为做黄花梨收藏获得了2009年中华年度文化人物的称号，我在发表获奖感言时说，现在中国任何一个的城市乡镇中，年轻人喜爱的歌曲、爱吃的东西、爱看的节目电影、使用的品牌基本上都是西方的。如果作为一个中国人对中国的传统文化一不喜欢，二不熟悉，他会真正爱这个国家吗？我们的年轻人不容易理解自己的民族。正因为如此，传承民族文化精华的工作必须要有人做。”“公众未来在这家艺术馆会感受到中国的传统文化非常美，进而对中华民族、对中国人产生敬意，我觉得这一点非常重要。我的想法是别光我自己喜爱，要像我写剧本和小说一样把感动也分享给其他人，让更多的人参与到这项文化精粹的传承事业上来。”
曾经有位国画收藏家携巨资赴海外竞拍一幅国画珍品，未能得取得成功，国画依然被外国人拍走，但这位收藏家依然说他已经非常幸福，因为这幅名画在竞拍的过程中有那么一秒钟在法律意义上是属于他的，因为这是他从小就喜欢，想摸想看，想把它带回中国的画。“收藏的境界莫过于此。”海岩淡然地说道。
Recently, at the Rock Lounge of Kunlun Hotel in Beijing, U-Jet had the opportunity to have a look of this classy exclusive club. We then chatted with the designer Haiyan about Huanghuali.
It all started at Yuanhenry
Haiyan said that for him Huanghuali was a love-at-the-first-sight affair. 11 years ago, he and colleagues had been to Xianghe of Hebei to look at some Chinese furniture and passed by Yuanhenry Ming-Qing Furniture Store in Yansha on their way back. Friends tried to stop him, warning him Huanghuali could be addictive. “The more they said so, the more I wanted to see. They are right, I became addictive hopelessly, and the fascination refuses to go away even today.”
“That was my first encounter with Huanghuali and it was irresistible. I fell in love with it, besotted with its history, its form, its concept and the entire aesthetics. I have been learning about it and gradually people in the circle heard of me,” recalled Haiyan
Huanghuali is so incredibly measured, classy, standing on its own but never imposing in Haiyan’s eyes. The wood lends itself perfectly to simple, no-ornament yet elegant furniture. Traditional Chinese culture lovers invariably find Huanghuali furniture irresistible, and it is naturally recognized as the furniture for the cultivated. Today, Haiyan is a senior advisor for The Traditional Culture Committee of China Furniture Association, and the associate director of Wood Culture Stream of Chinese Culture Council, and a recognized Huanghuali expert.
For the first few acquisitions, Haiyan had Ma Weidou to thank for. He bought a 400-year plus Ming long narrow table and then a newly-made one with typical flowing water pattern and peacock eyes called “ghost face”. “Ma Weidou said the 28 ghost faces are the 28 stars of the Galaxy. I also learned a lot from Yang Bo, the boss of Yuanhenry.” Haiyan’s infatuation with Huanghuali started from then and never ends.
Now he has more than 400 pieces. Haiyan loves each one of his collections and cannot bring himself to name any favorites. He loves the unassuming shape and the lines of Ming furniture, the inspiration for modern minimalist western furniture. When he starts to talk about Huanghuali, Haiyan cannot stop. But who would have imagined that the businessman-cum-writer is bothered financially?
Collection is all about auction and patience
Haiyan told us the difficulties of obtaining every single piece of his collections. Sometimes he had to wait years for a particular item. For a collector, each lost opportunity is to be regretted for a long time. “Huanghuali is too addictive and I had to make a rule for myself – having with me only the cash for taxi when going for a viewing. This way, when I see something I like, I cannot do anything the first time. I will go again a week later. If I still cannot part with it, I will go again the week after with my wallet. But many times the second week I went, it was gone…” On the other hand, Haiyan sometimes had his luck. Once at an extremely competitive auction, he had no expectations, but it so happened that his fellow bidder was distracted by a phone call and the hammer struck at Haiyan’s bid.
Haiyan became a celebrity and people started to alert him about collections and collectors. He could meet with owners to talk about a direct sale. Today raw Huanghuali is sold as high as Rmb20 to 30 million per ton, even Haiyan cannot afford it. He spotted a good new design and paid his down payment. He then had to find the cash and sometimes he had to delay payment.
“I had no cash but the item could be gone soon. A shop labeled the piece ’sold to Haiyan’ and the owner would urge for payment. I had to reply I wasn’t in China. Sometimes it took me a couple of years to get the money and took delivery. But prices had gone up so much and the owner wouldn’t honor the original deal. For example, I bought a piece for 400,000 and the price went up to 1million two years later. The owner said to me there had been a buyer offering 800,000 so you had to make it up to me. I tried my best to get what I wanted.” There is a Chinese saying, “a hero can be at his wits’ end when he is short of even one penny”. Who could have imagined Mr. Haiyan’s forced cunningness to acquire a piece of Huanghuali?
“There is culture in Chinese furniture. I look at a piece, and each time I discover something new, and I feel something new. The ultimate hermit lives in city centre. Haiyan the hermit lives in antiques.”
Haiyan teased that Huanghaui was his medicine for his minor depression. “I was very disconnected for a while and the doctor diagnosed minor depression. If one has a passion, it kills your illness more effectively than drugs.”
Zhang Bojun the legend tried to sell his courtyard for a famous painting. His wife refused to give him money and he resorted to lying on the ground in a tantrum. Haiyan said he started to understand this sort of behavior after he became a collector himself.
A museum to complete what the master had left off
With more than 400 pieces in his collections, Haiyan is preparing the first Huanghuali museum in Shunyi. The building is going through some heating works and U-Jet regretfully didn’t see Haiyan’s collections.
Haiyan told U-Jet the museum was still being planned and would be built over several phases. There will be an immersion section, just as Wang Shixiang, the mater of antique research and collections intended. Haiyan respected master Wang very much. Wang had seen many Huanghuali items all over the world. He hoped that there would be a museum displaying precious furniture in a Ming or Qing style house, and recreating the way people lived in those times.
“Visitors see not only the beauty of furniture, but also the way our forefathers lived their lives, their superb taste. When westerners were at the stage of island and nomadic civilizations, we Chinese had already created high level of life philosophy and taste. An American foundation was willing to help Master Wang and even bought a piece of land in San Francisco. Wang inspected it and was satisfied with it. Unfortunately the project didn’t pull off due of financial issues and Wang had passed away.” Haiyan is very keen to carry the torch forward.
He planned to build the museum to recreate the way ancient people lived. There will be an immersion sector. Visitors can sleep on a Huanghuali bed, have a meal on a Huanghuali table, drink tea and watch a Chinese opera.
Haiyan isn’t thinking of making money by running a club. The museum focuses on exhibitions. Precious furniture will be accessible to visitors. Investments will be huge to build a Ming or Qing building and craftsmen are hard to come by. Haiyan studies architectural design, landscaping, color painting tirelessly himself. He said frankly that this is a cultural project and he needed to find investors as well as loans. He doesn’t expect profits.
“If it is profitable, many people will chase me. But now we will have to rely on true cultural champions who are not in it for money.” Haiyan has been in business and culture communities for years and knows deeply the conflicts between profit-seeking and cultural pursuits.”
Traditional culture:
carry it forward
For his dream of a Huanghuali museum, Haiyan doesn’t sell any one of his large collections, although he occasionally trades certain items to optimize his collections.
He told U-Jet that he would ask prospective investors into the museum whether they were in it for profits or for public good. Any mentioning of return would be a show stopper. “There are enough charity organizations, but very few on cultural heritage. People don’t understand why I throw all that I have to do a task beyond my means.”
Haiyan moves around in many communities and he sees culture in a very deep and different way. He thinks Chinese culture is experiencing a crisis of being marginalized. We might say “the more vernacular, the more global.” But what has been proven over decades is that western civilization still prevails.
“I was awarded ‘Cultural Men of the Year’ in 2009 and gave a speech at the award ceremony. In any one of the Chinese cities and towns, young people love western songs, food, films and brands. If a Chinese doesn’t like traditional culture and doesn’t know much about it, will he or she truly love this country? The young don’t understand our nation and we have to carry cultural heritage forward.” Haiyan added, “When visitors come to our museum, they will see the beauty of traditional Chinese culture. They will then respect the Chinese nation and the Chinese people. I think it very important. I am thinking, it is not enough for me to love Chinese culture, I want to share it with others, just the way I write novels and scripts, to share my feelings. I hope more people can join to safeguard our cultural heritage.”
A Chinese painting collector participated in an overseas auction with a lot of money but still failed to get the painting he desired. But he said he was happy. During the auction, the painting legally belonged to him for a short second. He loved the painting since he was a child, wanted to touch it and bring it back to China. “That’s what collection is all about,” commented Haiyan in a measured tone.
他就是“一脚踏在文化里面，一脚踏在文化外面”的海岩先生。
He wears many hats and seems to be extremely comfortable with whatever role he is playing at any given moment. He mocked himself as a first-rate interior designer, a second-rate hotel manager, a third-rate writer and a fourth-rate screen-writer. He is a senior executive of a state-owned hotel, and one of the richest writers in China. Obsessed with Huanghuali, he dreams of creating the one and only China Huanghuali Museum. He gives all he has for this purpose and is arguably the No.1 collector of Huanghuali in China. He loves nothing better than this mission.
You know him. He is Haiyan, the celebrity who moves in and out of the circle of culture at ease.
近日，在北京昆仑饭店的岩酒廊里，海岩接受了《私人飞机》杂志的专访，以一位收藏家的身份向我们讲述了他的收藏故事。
缘起：元亨利的那一眼
海岩说，他恋上黄花梨只是由于那偶然的一瞥。11年前，海岩和同事到河北香河看中式家具，回来的路上经过燕莎的元亨利明清家具店，他想进店看看，朋友们说那里卖的是黄花梨家具，看了会中毒，就拔不出来了。“听他们这么说，我更要下车一看究竟，果不其然，这一看，中的毒到现在还没有消退。”
“那是我第一次接触黄花梨，我当时看了一眼就被强烈地吸引住了。逐渐开始迷恋一个完整的黄花梨文化，不仅是它的历史，还包括形、意、材的整个审美。然后开始不断学习，直到在木器这个圈子里有了点名气。”海岩回忆道。
海岩认为，黄花梨不温不燥，不卑不亢，不寡不喧，特别适合打造简洁凝练的素身家具，但凡喜爱中国传统文化的人，都会对明式黄花梨家具产生共鸣，黄花梨家具也被称为文人家具。也许正是海岩骨子里的人文气质与黄花梨的独特魅力相辅相成才让他扎根其间。现在海岩已是中国家具协会传统家具委员会高级顾问和中华文化促进会木作文化工作委员会的副主任。黄花梨专家对他来说名副其实。
海岩的前几件黄花梨家具是马未都介绍撮合的，第一件黄花梨是一件有400年历史的明代条案，之后他又买了一件新做的黄花梨条案，条案上有黄花梨特有的流水纹，案上还有雀眼，俗称“鬼脸”。“马未都说这上面28个小‘鬼脸’，就像银河系里的28个星宿。后来元亨利的老板杨波也教了我很多相关知识。”从此海岩便开始痴迷其中。
从无到有，积少成多，现在海岩手中的黄花梨藏品已多达400多件，这些藏品无论器形无论材质皆为其心头所好，海岩也无法举出最喜欢的一件来。他迷恋明式家具那种不事雕琢的造型与线条，熟知这对西方现代家具的极简风格具有启蒙价值，只要说起黄花梨，他就兴趣盎然娓娓道来，但谁会想到，商人兼文人的海岩也会为缺钱所困扰呢？
收藏：抢拍与软磨硬泡
海岩自述其每一件藏品到手都极为不易，有的看中了几年以后才能到手。对于收藏者来说，最大的遗憾就是错过，海岩也不例外。“因为黄花梨诱惑太大，我曾给自己定下一个规矩，去看黄花梨只带来回打车的钱。这样，看到中意的黄花梨家具，虽然心痒，但只能忍下。隔一周再去看，如果仍然爱不释手，那么第三周就带上钱包。但有很多次，第二周去看时，那件黄花梨就已经被人买走了……”有“错过”的遗憾就有“捡漏”的意外之喜，海岩透露，有一次拍卖行公开拍卖黄花梨家具，竞争激烈，本来他没抱任何希望，没想到竞价对手被一个朋友电话影响了注意力，拍卖槌落下，他也因此获得了一份意外之喜。
自从海岩在圈内出名后，很多行家就会告诉他藏品藏家的信息，双方坐在一起谈转让。而黄花梨原料价现在的价格已经达到每吨2000万元至3000万元，如此高价让海岩着实吃不消，看中哪件材料、工艺都特别好的新黄花梨，他就先交几万元的定金，然后就开始为资金犯愁，拖延付款日期。
“因为当时没钱啊，但拿不出钱这件东西就没有了，有的店里就给这件黄花梨贴上‘海岩老师已购’的标签，当店主催我付余款时，我就借口不在国内，有个别情况是我拖了两三年才把钱凑够去提货，但价格已经涨得很高，比如这件黄花梨交定金时是40万，两年后已经100万了，店主说有人出80万我都没卖，海岩你得补点。我没办法就只能软磨硬泡想办法买到手。”俗话说“一文钱难倒英雄汉”，外人恐怕无法想象海岩会以这种狡黠的方式来收购藏品。
“中式家具有一种文化传承，每次欣赏都会有新发现、新感觉，别人是大隐于市，我是‘大隐于古’。”他还调侃称，黄花梨还能抵抗自己的轻微抑郁症，“有一段时间我看见什么都烦心，医生说可能是轻微抑郁症，不是多大的事儿，要是有一个爱好，病就能不药而愈。”
被称为文化奇人的张伯驹曾为了一幅名画把自己的四合院变卖，老婆不给钱他躺在地上不起来耍赖，这些看似疯颠的故事，海岩说他喜欢收藏后才真正理解了这种痴迷。
黄花梨艺术馆：完成大师遗愿
有了这400多件黄花梨珍品，海岩正在筹建中国第一家黄花梨艺术馆，选址在顺义，由于艺术馆正在进行暖气改造，所有黄花梨家具都拆卸并包装起来，本刊也暂时无缘得见。
海岩告诉本刊，这个艺术馆还在规划中，拟分几期建设，并增加体验项目，这也是文物研究与收藏大家王世襄先生的遗愿。而他与王老神交已久，王世襄在很多国家看到过黄花梨明清家具的藏品，有些还是镇馆之宝，他希望世界上有一家艺术馆能在明清建筑里面按照古人的生活方式来陈列这些珍品家具。
“看到的不仅仅是家具之美，还能看到我们祖先的居住文明和生活品味。可能西方的发达国家还在经历海岛文化和游牧文化时，中国人的生活品味情趣、人生哲学就已经达到了如此的高度，建艺术馆就是想通过艺术馆全景式地介绍中国传统文化。美国的一个基金会曾愿意帮王老实现这个心愿，并在旧金山买了一块地，王老也曾亲自赴美踏勘并表示满意，但是由于资金问题，项目直到王老去世也未做成。”谈起建立艺术馆的初衷，海岩一改之前的收藏之乐，更加执着与真诚。
海岩的设想是艺术馆以中国传统的建筑，按照生活的常态，让来参观的人能亲身感受到中国传统的生活起居状态，设置体验功能，比如在黄花梨大床上睡一觉，在桌上吃一顿饭，喝茶听戏等。与一般会所的盈利不同，这里以文化展示为目的，甚至把贵重家具摆出来让参观者直接接触和试用。但是仿明清建筑的成本投入非常大，人工也很难找，甚至建筑设计、园林规划、彩绘等等海岩都在学习并努力亲自设计。海岩也坦言，因为资金问题只能把艺术馆项目作为文化项目寻求合作，寻求多方投资者加入，再利用贷款，因为项目盈利并不乐观和现实。“如果是一个很好的盈利项目会有一堆人围上来，但现在只能看在文化的面子上，谁是真正的爱好者，谁对弘扬传统文化有兴趣才愿意真正投资而不问回报。”在商界文化界浸淫多年的海岩深知当今社会的功利与文化传承的抵触。
传统文化：需要传承与敬意
尽管拥有如此一批巨量的黄花梨家具，但海岩始终为了打造艺术馆这个梦想坚守着，藏品只进不出，或者以物换物来优化藏品。
海岩告诉本刊，他会问清楚投资艺术馆的人是为盈利还是为公益事业，当有人提到投资回报率时就无法再谈了。“目前国内的慈善公益事业救助性质的很多，偏重文化传承事业的很少。像我这样倾其所有、不自量力地做一件事情，会有很多人不理解。”
正因为海岩的多重身份，所以他看待文化的角度和深度更与众不同。海岩认为，现在中国文化面临被边缘化的危机，有句话叫“民族的就是世界的”，但近几十年社会文化发展证明，越是西方的才越是世界的。
“我因为做黄花梨收藏获得了2009年中华年度文化人物的称号，我在发表获奖感言时说，现在中国任何一个的城市乡镇中，年轻人喜爱的歌曲、爱吃的东西、爱看的节目电影、使用的品牌基本上都是西方的。如果作为一个中国人对中国的传统文化一不喜欢，二不熟悉，他会真正爱这个国家吗？我们的年轻人不容易理解自己的民族。正因为如此，传承民族文化精华的工作必须要有人做。”“公众未来在这家艺术馆会感受到中国的传统文化非常美，进而对中华民族、对中国人产生敬意，我觉得这一点非常重要。我的想法是别光我自己喜爱，要像我写剧本和小说一样把感动也分享给其他人，让更多的人参与到这项文化精粹的传承事业上来。”
曾经有位国画收藏家携巨资赴海外竞拍一幅国画珍品，未能得取得成功，国画依然被外国人拍走，但这位收藏家依然说他已经非常幸福，因为这幅名画在竞拍的过程中有那么一秒钟在法律意义上是属于他的，因为这是他从小就喜欢，想摸想看，想把它带回中国的画。“收藏的境界莫过于此。”海岩淡然地说道。
Recently, at the Rock Lounge of Kunlun Hotel in Beijing, U-Jet had the opportunity to have a look of this classy exclusive club. We then chatted with the designer Haiyan about Huanghuali.
It all started at Yuanhenry
Haiyan said that for him Huanghuali was a love-at-the-first-sight affair. 11 years ago, he and colleagues had been to Xianghe of Hebei to look at some Chinese furniture and passed by Yuanhenry Ming-Qing Furniture Store in Yansha on their way back. Friends tried to stop him, warning him Huanghuali could be addictive. “The more they said so, the more I wanted to see. They are right, I became addictive hopelessly, and the fascination refuses to go away even today.”
“That was my first encounter with Huanghuali and it was irresistible. I fell in love with it, besotted with its history, its form, its concept and the entire aesthetics. I have been learning about it and gradually people in the circle heard of me,” recalled Haiyan
Huanghuali is so incredibly measured, classy, standing on its own but never imposing in Haiyan’s eyes. The wood lends itself perfectly to simple, no-ornament yet elegant furniture. Traditional Chinese culture lovers invariably find Huanghuali furniture irresistible, and it is naturally recognized as the furniture for the cultivated. Today, Haiyan is a senior advisor for The Traditional Culture Committee of China Furniture Association, and the associate director of Wood Culture Stream of Chinese Culture Council, and a recognized Huanghuali expert.
For the first few acquisitions, Haiyan had Ma Weidou to thank for. He bought a 400-year plus Ming long narrow table and then a newly-made one with typical flowing water pattern and peacock eyes called “ghost face”. “Ma Weidou said the 28 ghost faces are the 28 stars of the Galaxy. I also learned a lot from Yang Bo, the boss of Yuanhenry.” Haiyan’s infatuation with Huanghuali started from then and never ends.
Now he has more than 400 pieces. Haiyan loves each one of his collections and cannot bring himself to name any favorites. He loves the unassuming shape and the lines of Ming furniture, the inspiration for modern minimalist western furniture. When he starts to talk about Huanghuali, Haiyan cannot stop. But who would have imagined that the businessman-cum-writer is bothered financially?
Collection is all about auction and patience
Haiyan told us the difficulties of obtaining every single piece of his collections. Sometimes he had to wait years for a particular item. For a collector, each lost opportunity is to be regretted for a long time. “Huanghuali is too addictive and I had to make a rule for myself – having with me only the cash for taxi when going for a viewing. This way, when I see something I like, I cannot do anything the first time. I will go again a week later. If I still cannot part with it, I will go again the week after with my wallet. But many times the second week I went, it was gone…” On the other hand, Haiyan sometimes had his luck. Once at an extremely competitive auction, he had no expectations, but it so happened that his fellow bidder was distracted by a phone call and the hammer struck at Haiyan’s bid.
Haiyan became a celebrity and people started to alert him about collections and collectors. He could meet with owners to talk about a direct sale. Today raw Huanghuali is sold as high as Rmb20 to 30 million per ton, even Haiyan cannot afford it. He spotted a good new design and paid his down payment. He then had to find the cash and sometimes he had to delay payment.
“I had no cash but the item could be gone soon. A shop labeled the piece ’sold to Haiyan’ and the owner would urge for payment. I had to reply I wasn’t in China. Sometimes it took me a couple of years to get the money and took delivery. But prices had gone up so much and the owner wouldn’t honor the original deal. For example, I bought a piece for 400,000 and the price went up to 1million two years later. The owner said to me there had been a buyer offering 800,000 so you had to make it up to me. I tried my best to get what I wanted.” There is a Chinese saying, “a hero can be at his wits’ end when he is short of even one penny”. Who could have imagined Mr. Haiyan’s forced cunningness to acquire a piece of Huanghuali?
“There is culture in Chinese furniture. I look at a piece, and each time I discover something new, and I feel something new. The ultimate hermit lives in city centre. Haiyan the hermit lives in antiques.”
Haiyan teased that Huanghaui was his medicine for his minor depression. “I was very disconnected for a while and the doctor diagnosed minor depression. If one has a passion, it kills your illness more effectively than drugs.”
Zhang Bojun the legend tried to sell his courtyard for a famous painting. His wife refused to give him money and he resorted to lying on the ground in a tantrum. Haiyan said he started to understand this sort of behavior after he became a collector himself.
A museum to complete what the master had left off
With more than 400 pieces in his collections, Haiyan is preparing the first Huanghuali museum in Shunyi. The building is going through some heating works and U-Jet regretfully didn’t see Haiyan’s collections.
Haiyan told U-Jet the museum was still being planned and would be built over several phases. There will be an immersion section, just as Wang Shixiang, the mater of antique research and collections intended. Haiyan respected master Wang very much. Wang had seen many Huanghuali items all over the world. He hoped that there would be a museum displaying precious furniture in a Ming or Qing style house, and recreating the way people lived in those times.
“Visitors see not only the beauty of furniture, but also the way our forefathers lived their lives, their superb taste. When westerners were at the stage of island and nomadic civilizations, we Chinese had already created high level of life philosophy and taste. An American foundation was willing to help Master Wang and even bought a piece of land in San Francisco. Wang inspected it and was satisfied with it. Unfortunately the project didn’t pull off due of financial issues and Wang had passed away.” Haiyan is very keen to carry the torch forward.
He planned to build the museum to recreate the way ancient people lived. There will be an immersion sector. Visitors can sleep on a Huanghuali bed, have a meal on a Huanghuali table, drink tea and watch a Chinese opera.
Haiyan isn’t thinking of making money by running a club. The museum focuses on exhibitions. Precious furniture will be accessible to visitors. Investments will be huge to build a Ming or Qing building and craftsmen are hard to come by. Haiyan studies architectural design, landscaping, color painting tirelessly himself. He said frankly that this is a cultural project and he needed to find investors as well as loans. He doesn’t expect profits.
“If it is profitable, many people will chase me. But now we will have to rely on true cultural champions who are not in it for money.” Haiyan has been in business and culture communities for years and knows deeply the conflicts between profit-seeking and cultural pursuits.”
Traditional culture:
carry it forward
For his dream of a Huanghuali museum, Haiyan doesn’t sell any one of his large collections, although he occasionally trades certain items to optimize his collections.
He told U-Jet that he would ask prospective investors into the museum whether they were in it for profits or for public good. Any mentioning of return would be a show stopper. “There are enough charity organizations, but very few on cultural heritage. People don’t understand why I throw all that I have to do a task beyond my means.”
Haiyan moves around in many communities and he sees culture in a very deep and different way. He thinks Chinese culture is experiencing a crisis of being marginalized. We might say “the more vernacular, the more global.” But what has been proven over decades is that western civilization still prevails.
“I was awarded ‘Cultural Men of the Year’ in 2009 and gave a speech at the award ceremony. In any one of the Chinese cities and towns, young people love western songs, food, films and brands. If a Chinese doesn’t like traditional culture and doesn’t know much about it, will he or she truly love this country? The young don’t understand our nation and we have to carry cultural heritage forward.” Haiyan added, “When visitors come to our museum, they will see the beauty of traditional Chinese culture. They will then respect the Chinese nation and the Chinese people. I think it very important. I am thinking, it is not enough for me to love Chinese culture, I want to share it with others, just the way I write novels and scripts, to share my feelings. I hope more people can join to safeguard our cultural heritage.”
A Chinese painting collector participated in an overseas auction with a lot of money but still failed to get the painting he desired. But he said he was happy. During the auction, the painting legally belonged to him for a short second. He loved the painting since he was a child, wanted to touch it and bring it back to China. “That’s what collection is all about,” commented Haiyan in a measured tone.