Wang Liren

I have twice visited the ancient town of Jinxi, which is located in the southwest of Kunshan, and is surrounded by water. I was lucky to meet Mr. Xu Deren, a local painter, while watching the paintings on the theme of water town near the main entrance of Lianchi Temple, which opened to the north.

Xu Deren, a native of Jinxi, is 69 years old. He may have visited Nanjing, the provincial capital, only a handful of times, but his works have traveled across the ocean and hung in the living rooms of Canadian and American families. This not only means financial income for Xu Deren, but also shows that some people like, appreciate and affirm his paintings, and it is this that strengthens his determination to paint.

Perhaps the exquisite Jinxi planted the seeds of art in his life. Xu Deren likes music and painting since he was a child. He can play the erhu and write his own songs to sing about his beautiful hometown. Xu Deren's painting creation was much later than music, and it didn't start until he was 38 years old. At that time, the family didn't support this move very much, because painting required learning, buying paper and pens and other materials, and there were many places to spend money. However, life at home was not comfortable, but Xu Deren persisted. As soon as he had time, he went to sketch in this town, Zhouzhuang, Luzhi and other water towns, made many friends who painted, and thus learned a lot.

Xu Deren first painted landscape paintings. Until more than ten years ago, a reporter from Wen Wei Po came to Jinxi. After seeing his paintings, he suggested that he create water town paintings with his hometown as the theme, so as to show the world the style of the ancient water town in the south of the Yangtze River. After listening to this, Lao Xu thought it was very reasonable, and since then he has devoted himself to creating works with the theme of water town. His representative works include Lingtang Bay, Water Town Zeguo, and Spring in Nantang. Its 8-meter-long scroll "Eight Scenes of Jinxi" and 1-meter-long scroll "36 Top Bridges of Jinxi" depict the four seasons scenery of hometown Jinxi, and these two masterpieces are also on the Internet!

Xu Deren opened a "Deren Studio" in Jinxi Town. He thinks it doesn't matter whether his paintings can be sold or not. He doesn't make a living from it. I have a retirement salary, and it is important to publicize my hometown and show the charming beauty of the water town with my own pen.

The cheerful Xu Deren thinks that he is still young and can do many things. In "Deren Studio", the author saw a calligraphy work presented by a friend: "It's still raining at dusk in black dragon, and the old trees are more blooming in spring". I deeply feel that it writes the spirit of Lao Xu.

People's Daily Overseas Edition (7th edition, December 2, 22)