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Chen Yifei (1946-2005), a well-known Chinese painter, fashion designer and film director, is mostly remembered for his oil paintings of ancient beauties and films. The news about his paintings sold for skyrocketing prices was sensational.
But few are aware that the artist cherished a dream of shooting a film about Li Bai (701-792), arguably China’s greatest poet living in the Tang Dynasty (618-907), and about his life and poems in Anhui Province.
I stopped over in Shanghai on my way to Korea with a delegation in March, 1995. At that time, I was director of foreign affairs office and director of tourism bureau of Ma’anshan, a city on the Yangtze River in eastern China’s Anhui Province. The purpose of my temporary stay in Shanghai was to meet Chen Yifei.
I had been approached by a staffer from Chen’s company in Shanghai. I was told that Chen Yifei wished to see me about a film proposal about Li Bai’s life and poems in Ma’anshan.
I was on Chen’s radar for a reason. From 1989 forward, I masterminded and produced an annual international poetry festival in Ma’anshan, making Ma’anshan well known to many people as a place where the Tang poet passed away. Mr. Chen might have read about the festival in the media. That’s how we came to meet in Shanghai.
At that time, Chen was running a joint venture with a Hong Kong investor. The joint venture was headquartered in the northern wing of Jinjiang Hotel in Shanghai. During my brief stopover in Shanghai, I stayed in the southern wing of the Jinjiang Hotel. On the morning of March 3, 2009, Chen and I met in his office. He wore a silk scarf and a dark blue suit. He was all smiles. After a brief small talk, he praised the poetry festival. I talked about the festival in detail. The event focused on poetry and Li Bai and attracted many foreigners who were fascinated with Li and his poetic masterpieces.
Chen listened rapt and explained his proposition to me: “I know Li traveled around Anhui quite a lot and wrote many poems. I want to use Ma’anshan as a departure point and follow Li’s footsteps across Anhui. I want to recapture the landscape that inspired his poems.”
I voiced my support there and then, saying I would do my best to provide any help and convenience he would need. We shook hands on the deal. I presented him with a copy of my essays on Li Bai and we posed for a photograph.
I understood that Chen’s choice of Anhui to explore and recapture the beauty of Li’s sightseeing tours and poems was well grounded on his research. Li traveled across China in his lifetime. Anhui was a major attraction and destination in his tours. During more than three decades after he left Sichuan Province, he visited Anhui six times and spent more than 6 years altogether in the province. Of about 1,000 poems he wrote in his lifetime, more than 200 were created in Anhui. Anhui has a lot to offer about Li Bai.
What inspired Chen Yifei to shoot a film about the Tang poet? His paintings and films allowed me an insight. In his visual creations, he endeavored to depict a sense of poetry of his own. I guess he wanted to explore the beauty in Li’s poetry by exploring the natural beauty that inspired the poet.
After my return to Ma’anshan from my visit to Korea, I made necessary arrangements for the film to start. Chen postponed his Anhui mission for more time to complete what he had been doing.
I came to work in Shanghai in June, 1995 in response to the wish of many Japanese friends. They wanted the yearly poetry festival to be held in Shanghai.
Chen called off the Li Bai Project as I no longer worked in Ma’anshan. If he had made the film, it would have produced a huge positive impact on Anhui in general and Ma’anshan in particular.
In October, 1999, Chen made an inscription for the poetry festival in Shanghai at my request. I wished to invite Chen to one of the festivals and thought there would be a time for invitation. But he unexpectedly passed away at the age of 59 in 2005. □
But few are aware that the artist cherished a dream of shooting a film about Li Bai (701-792), arguably China’s greatest poet living in the Tang Dynasty (618-907), and about his life and poems in Anhui Province.
I stopped over in Shanghai on my way to Korea with a delegation in March, 1995. At that time, I was director of foreign affairs office and director of tourism bureau of Ma’anshan, a city on the Yangtze River in eastern China’s Anhui Province. The purpose of my temporary stay in Shanghai was to meet Chen Yifei.
I had been approached by a staffer from Chen’s company in Shanghai. I was told that Chen Yifei wished to see me about a film proposal about Li Bai’s life and poems in Ma’anshan.
I was on Chen’s radar for a reason. From 1989 forward, I masterminded and produced an annual international poetry festival in Ma’anshan, making Ma’anshan well known to many people as a place where the Tang poet passed away. Mr. Chen might have read about the festival in the media. That’s how we came to meet in Shanghai.
At that time, Chen was running a joint venture with a Hong Kong investor. The joint venture was headquartered in the northern wing of Jinjiang Hotel in Shanghai. During my brief stopover in Shanghai, I stayed in the southern wing of the Jinjiang Hotel. On the morning of March 3, 2009, Chen and I met in his office. He wore a silk scarf and a dark blue suit. He was all smiles. After a brief small talk, he praised the poetry festival. I talked about the festival in detail. The event focused on poetry and Li Bai and attracted many foreigners who were fascinated with Li and his poetic masterpieces.
Chen listened rapt and explained his proposition to me: “I know Li traveled around Anhui quite a lot and wrote many poems. I want to use Ma’anshan as a departure point and follow Li’s footsteps across Anhui. I want to recapture the landscape that inspired his poems.”
I voiced my support there and then, saying I would do my best to provide any help and convenience he would need. We shook hands on the deal. I presented him with a copy of my essays on Li Bai and we posed for a photograph.
I understood that Chen’s choice of Anhui to explore and recapture the beauty of Li’s sightseeing tours and poems was well grounded on his research. Li traveled across China in his lifetime. Anhui was a major attraction and destination in his tours. During more than three decades after he left Sichuan Province, he visited Anhui six times and spent more than 6 years altogether in the province. Of about 1,000 poems he wrote in his lifetime, more than 200 were created in Anhui. Anhui has a lot to offer about Li Bai.
What inspired Chen Yifei to shoot a film about the Tang poet? His paintings and films allowed me an insight. In his visual creations, he endeavored to depict a sense of poetry of his own. I guess he wanted to explore the beauty in Li’s poetry by exploring the natural beauty that inspired the poet.
After my return to Ma’anshan from my visit to Korea, I made necessary arrangements for the film to start. Chen postponed his Anhui mission for more time to complete what he had been doing.
I came to work in Shanghai in June, 1995 in response to the wish of many Japanese friends. They wanted the yearly poetry festival to be held in Shanghai.
Chen called off the Li Bai Project as I no longer worked in Ma’anshan. If he had made the film, it would have produced a huge positive impact on Anhui in general and Ma’anshan in particular.
In October, 1999, Chen made an inscription for the poetry festival in Shanghai at my request. I wished to invite Chen to one of the festivals and thought there would be a time for invitation. But he unexpectedly passed away at the age of 59 in 2005. □