"Feng Jie: Poet, Cook and Painter" Gray Bamboo/Feng Jie.

Feng Jie was a famous poet more than ten years ago. At that time, he wore a pair of round retro glasses and looked like a modest gentleman in the Republic of China. He stood out among a group of writers. At first glance, he seemed to have the shadow of the poet Xu Zhimo.

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But Feng Jie is not a passionate romantic poet at heart. Even when his eyes are drunk, he scans the road in front of him soberly and never gets lost in the wind and moon.

In his own art world, the artist brings a mountain if he wants it, and calls for rain if he wants it. Of course, it is entirely up to him to dominate.

Specific to life, artists can be divided into two categories. One category is those who extend the boundaries of art into life and have strong vitality or ability to love, such as Zhang Daqian and Qi Baishi.

There is another type of artist who is not like this. He is so detached that he cannot eat the fireworks of the world, and everything in the world becomes a burden to art.

For example, Lin Hejing, such a great artist, aloof and quiet, with a pure heart, lived the life of a plum wife and a crane child. He only felt that the green mountains and green waters were suitable for him, and he transferred his emotions to all the scenery he liked.

Feng Jie should belong to the third category.

He clearly distinguishes between life and art.

Looking through his paintings, there is no trace of Fengyue, so he is not of the Mandarin Duck and Butterfly School.

Reading his book, I found that a kind of rural plant was popularized. He unexpectedly knew so many names of weeds. From the names of weeds, he inspired the imagination of a talented scholar. Those weeds in his childhood reminded him of them, and they had light and shadow in his writings.

, with legends, became an elf that can walk, talk and tell stories.

One by one, they were all friends who had been separated for a long time and could comfort Han Liang.

He wrote about Rehmannia glutinosa and said it was a kind of Zema grass.

I checked online and found out that Rehmannia glutinosa is the kind I used to suck when I was growing grass in the fields. It has little peach-purple morning glory on its head. When we are thirsty, Xiaoqing and Xiaohong and I will pull it out.

The blossoming flowers with thin tubes smack their flower cores like bees. The sweetness comforts the taste buds of lonely and monotonous childhood.

I still remember his prose "Moonlight Turns Away".

It seems that one night, the moonlight in the countryside, the stained wooden tables of the country wine shop came to him one after another. The atmosphere of the country and the people in the country came to him along the memory.

Although he came to the city with a halo as a professional writer, the indifference and vastness of the city would also make him feel a little at a loss.

Therefore, behind the prosperity, his soul often sneaks into the countryside to gather quietly with everything he is familiar with and close to.

Grass and trees are humble yet tough.

Feng Jie uses his own words to search for them one by one, get to know them, explore and have conversations with them.

How do you remember the names of so many plants and trees so clearly?

It's so jealous.

It must have been taught by his grandparents. They accompanied Feng Jie in his childhood and adolescence. Many of his understanding and experience of life and the world were originally obtained from them.

When he writes about the vegetation of the North Central Plains, he is also writing about his memory of his deceased relatives, and the pain of caregiving can be gently touched in the narrative.

Feng Jie likes Liang Shiqiu and Zhou Zuoren's writing. The leisurely style and elegant brushwork present the customs and sentiments of his hometown one by one.

From the writing of nature to the analysis of culture, his tentacles extend to those reclusive and talented scholars in history who are out of date and out of tune with the world.

When he wrote about Nepeta, he thought of Zhang Dai, Bada Shanren, Fu Shan, etc. as smelling of Nepeta.

He loves these plants and trees so much, and makes these characters his companions, that even the taste penetrates into his soul and flesh.

In fact, humans are just another kind of vegetation. "As long as one lives, one autumn is vegetation." Grass and trees are one's own mirror and one's final incarnation.

His "Food Paintings" are his own private dishes, collecting ingredients and cooking methods from the North Central Plains, making people feel that he is a cook who has known cooking since he was a child.

And as he is, he is not an ordinary cook. He uses poetry and color to cook Henan dishes from the North Central Plains. Readers have seen his recipes and tasted the unforgettable taste of a difficult life.

In modern society, reading Feng Jie's book feels like we are still living in the countryside, living in the warmth of hand-made products. During the period of material scarcity, grandma and mother found ways to make edible things that others had discarded.

The adult can chew food that can fill the belly.

This image of a family living in harmony despite its simplicity remains deeply embedded in the memories of their loved ones.

But now in the online world, life is very different.

Many young people do not know how to cook and are unwilling to learn cooking skills, so they spend their days taking out food. Even if they sit at home and do nothing, even if the refrigerator is full, they are still too lazy to do anything.

A home with a cold kitchen is a home without warmth, and the love that comes from the family will be greatly reduced.

Eating commercially produced food in restaurants does not taste like home at all.

Modern man has lost this blessing.

Feng Jie's painting has been in full swing in the past two years.

Every day on WeChat you can see his new works rising with the morning sun.

He incorporated so many vegetation, livestock, small beasts, and birds that are familiar to the people of the Central Plains into his brushwork and colors.

It seems that he is having less and less conversations with people and more and more with his kingdom of colors.

Artists are free in their own world.

His paintings increasingly convey a sense of confidence and momentum.