The Pulse of Guangzhou City

Shi Wan

Her autonym was Wang Min. She graduated from the School of Chinese Language and Literature， Zhengzhou University.

The book has four parts： “Echoes of the City，” “A Long Period of an Ancient City，” “Times of Glory，” and “Glory of Fleeting Years.” With the unique perspective and keen sense of a senior female journalist， in the form of history-telling， the author tells the mystery of the growth of Guangzhou， an ancient city with a thousand years of history.

The Pulse of Guangzhou City

Shi Wan

Lingnan Fine Arts Publishing House

June 2017

68.00 （CNY）

Shi Wan （autonym： Wang Min） was an educated youth， worker， teacher， magazine editor， and newspaper reporter whose ancestral home was in Henan Province， but she lived in Guangzhou for more than 20 years. She was a calm madam， neither anxious nor rash. Wang Min’s observation of things and perception of culture were keen and profound. Several years after retirement， she， with a camera and thought， recorded Guangzhou’s historical sites and relics with pictures and words and explored the mystery of the growth of Guangzhou， an ancient city with a thousand years of history. Taking the historical landmarks of Yangcheng as the focal point， "the legends were brought to life， and the archives were vivid， which was both ancient and fashionable. What will happen when Guangzhou’s appeal within the work of a Hakka writer meets the historical relics of old Guangzhou？ With the unique perspective and keen sense of a senior female reporter， the author narrated the mystery of the growth of this thousand-year-old ancient city of Guangzhou and the profound Lingnan culture and history in the form of history-telling.

The book described the historical sites and relics of Guangzhou， such as the Tomb of the Nanyue King， Guangxiao Temple， Stele Forest of South Sea God Temple， Lychee Bay Scenic Area， Baiyun Mountain， and Zhenhai Tower on Yuexiu Hill; culture and economy in specific eras， such as Miss Xiguan， Dongshan’s cultural deposits， Jinlun Guild Hall， and Dongping Daya; the glory of the fleeting years on Shamian Island and in Huangpu Village and in Chen’s Lineage Hall; and the revolutionary history in Huanghuagang and Sun Yat-sen’s Mansion. The truth hidden in the years has gone. The author used an acute and pure mind to meet the ancient history， outlining the cultural vein of a city.

During the optimization of the topic selection and review of the sample chapters， I dived into the depths of history when I received the manuscript， looking at the delicate pictures with a unique visual structure and deep history， and reading personal narrations by the author with more humanistic feelings. The entire manuscript describes a vivid history of the growth of Guangzhou， which contains independent pieces of humanistic attraction， connecting the scattered representative historical remains of Guangzhou. The first word that came to my mind was “cultural vein.” The text and pictures tell the story of Guangzhou’s development， so the book can be organized in chronological order and named Cultural Vein of Guangzhou. However， Mrs. Wang Min disagreed. She wanted to highlight the “city，” the “taste，” and the historic growth and charm of a city. In the end， the book was titled The Pulse of Guangzhou City according to Mrs. Wang’s original intention. As for the manuscript’s structure， Mrs. Wang affirmed my idea of highlighting the timeline. The book is divided into “Echoes of the City，” “A Long Period of an Ancient City，” “Times of Glory，” and “Glory of Fleeting Years.”

There is a strong contrast between history and modernity in the book. The author tries to create something lively and childish from a serious and solemn museum. In the deep tomb paths and high steps of the Tomb of the Nanyue King in the Western Han Dynasty， little girls hold on to the railing and walk down curiously and cautiously. The author guides the reader step by step to explore the liveliest childhood state of the city from the perspective of two 13-year-old girls. The readers understand what the author has in mind： children may be more likely to understand the past because they have fewer “impurities” and are more likely to be closer to the sky and the earth， and when they look at those old “items，” they are more easily moved than we are， and even more wonderfully touched. The Zhenhai Tower on Yuexiu Hill contains the essence of Guangzhou’s history and culture and also bears witness to the integration of the Cantonese with the earth and the sea， as well as the connection between China and the world. In addition to the 600-year old red brick walls and the 800-year old Song City Wall， a young couple， who were taking pictures， was captured in the photo of the century-old vicissitudes.

The author boldly tells the story of history with sensual words， carefully seeks evidence with detailed records of relics， and collects a large number of old photos， which forms an eye-catching and striking montage with similar to scenes this day and age. In terms of Guangzhou’s persistent problem – the flooded streets. I felt stuck in my heart when I saw the flooded streets of Guangzhou’s old river branch in 1917， but my mood brightened up when I found there was a photo of a little girl playing by the water on the steps of the river branch – Donghao， which was singing happily to celebrate its new life.

In the composition and framing， designers exert every effort to create rigid space and vividly transcend time， so that the history can be alive. In Miss Xiguan： Generations of Beauty， a set of old photos of the Mary Fulton Statue， the former site of the David Gregg Hospital， and the students and faculty of the Hackett Medical College and David Gregg Hospital participating in the Red Cross Movement are laid out in black-and-white film， making it easy to feel the ups and downs of the past. The Chen’s Lineage Hall is famous for its craftsmanship， so the photos highlight the local close-ups， such as the auspicious beasts of the roof’s ridge， the stone carvings， the wood carvings， and the six scroll-type large brick carvings form between the walls of the Hall， each of which is a separate artifact. The bleed margin is designed on the flanging position， so that various images are vivid and the ancient city walls shaded by green trees and the side door leading to the back garden in Chen’s Lineage Hall take up two-thirds of the page. With the color gradient of the bottoming design or the bleeding cross-page design， the reader seems to be reading the author’s work on the spot， diving headlong into the scene of history.

The historical relics are already in existence， but the author， editor， and designer are able to feel their fresh vitality and listen to their stories of the past with a strong sense of participation.