The Ribbon-cutting Ceremony

Towards the end of 1996, I received a letter from Mr. Huang Yongyu in Hong Kong, who invited me to his solo art show there. The invitation was simple – just a plain card, without gilt lettering or transparent plastic surface. On the obverse side was "Huang Yongyu's Art Exhibition" in handwritten style, with no social or academic title to his name. On the reverse side were a few remarks made in all sincerity:
For seventy-four years I have traveled a long way.
When I had my first art show in Hong Kong, I was twenty-three. And now when the ninth is on, you see, I am seventy-four.
Please join us for the cocktail party for the exhibition.
As usual,there will be no ribbon-cutting, nor speech-making.
Yours respectfully,
Huang Yongyu
At that time, China's reform and opening-up policy was not yet fully implemented. As an ordinary citizen, how could I get permission to go to Hong Kong merely for an exhibition?! Who should I approach for approval? Where should I go to put in the application? By the time I had managed to get through the tedious procedures, the exhibition would have long been over. I immediately sent Mr. Huang a telegram of congratulations, and that was the best I could do in answer to his invitation.
In May this year I received from Mr. Huang another invitation to his art show due on May 22nd at China National Museum of Fine Arts in Beijing. This time it would be easy. Two days prior to the exhibition, my whole family went for the cocktail party held in the Ten-thousand-Lotus Mansion – Mr. Huang' s new residence in Tongzhou District. Mr. Huang told me, "There will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the exhibition the day after tomorrow." As far as I could remember, he seldom had such rituals for his art shows, but how come this time… Probably noticing my puzzled look, Mr. Huang explained, "I've invited Mr. Li, the veteran gardener, to cut the ribbon. I had been out of touch with him for years. I asked several friends to enquire about him, but they only learned that his workplace had been closed down, and his house was no longer there as a result of a new construction project. They failed to locate where he had moved. Meanwhile I myself also moved, and each time I come to Beijing, I seldom stay long. That's why I didn't find him until recently. Over the decades he has been my real tested friend, who doesn't have the slightest notion of seeking personal gains. So he is the right person to cut the ribbon."
As for this gardener, I have a very deep impression. During the years of the "Cultural Revolution," whenever I went to Beijing on business, I would visit Mr. Huang and show him what I had privately painted at home and ask for his advice, and then I would watch him paint and listen to his jokes and stories full of philosophical morals. It was in Mr. Huang's home that I often met with this gardener, a middle-aged man in denim overalls and army rubber shoes, who looked simple and honest.
During the period of the Cultural Revolution when things were not on the right track, Mr. Huang and his family had to live in a small windowless room attached to one side of a house, which he nicknamed Pot Studio. As his collection of books had been confiscated, his paintings destroyed and his gramophone records smashed, his home was almost left with nothing but bare walls. However, owing to the close kinship among the family members, as well as Mr. Huang's wisdom and philosophical attitude towards life, his Pot Studio was imbued with warmth and vitality. What is more, some tenderly pretty flowering plants grown by Mr. Li added a strong profundity and spiritual richness.
In those days, Mr. Huang did a lot of flower paintings modeling on the potted plants that the gardener had brought him. Those works of art not only demonstrate the artist' s love for life in the face of adversity, but also embody the gardener's compassion and broad-mindedness.
On May 22nd I went with my family to China National Museum of Fine Arts for Mr. Huang' s exhibition.
At 10 o'clock, the master of ceremonies announced the Grand Opening, and invited Mr. Li to cut the ribbon. Dressed in a clean jacket, the gardener appeared in his usual manner. Solemnly and carefully he cut the red silk-ribbon apart with the hands that had trimmed countless tender plants throughout his life. Standing by with a smile on his face, Mr. Huang gazed at his true friend, who for so many years had not sought personal gains, not boasted about himself, nor expected anything in return.
Over here was an artist who, with his intelligence and his hands, had created a lot of gorgeous works, which have helped purify our souls and stimulate our minds.
Over there was a horticulturist who, with his wisdom and his hands, had raised a lot of beautiful flowering plants, which have helped decorate our life and cultivate our finest feelings.
When the ceremony was over, with the two old men leading the way shoulder to shoulder, we visitors entered the exhibition hall, and what struck the eye was a riot of resplendent brilliance.