Walking into the "Chinese living room" of Vosges square in Paris -- Hugo's Chinese complex
2022-06-17
In 1811, Victor Hugo, 9, went to Spain with his mother to reunite with his father who served in Napoleon's army. In an exhibition gallery, he saw two huge and exquisite Chinese vases. He was deeply touched and began to have endless reverie about the strange China. Today, more than two centuries later, a reporter from Xinhua News Agency walked into Hugo's former residence Museum in Vosges square in Paris. The "Chinese living room" designed by Hugo, a great writer on the third floor, is filled with Chinese porcelain, lacquered wood furniture, palace lanterns, decorative bamboo curtains... The living room furnishings create a gorgeous and unique Chinese cultural atmosphere. Gerard odine, curator of Hugo's former residence Museum in Paris and Guernsey, welcomed us in the "Chinese living room". He specially chose to accept the interview when the museum was closed and there were no tourists, and removed all the protective fences, so that we could enjoy every design of Hugo closely. Hugo was born in the eastern French city of Besancon in 1802. He is a representative of French romantic literature in the 19th century. In 1831, his novel Notre Dame de Paris was published and achieved great success. In 1832, he rented a 280 square meter apartment in Vosges square and lived there for 16 years. In 1851, after Napoleon III's coup, Hugo rose up against it and was forced into exile. In 1902, on the occasion of Hugo's Centennial birthday, the Paris municipal government transformed the apartment in Vosges square into Hugo's former residence Museum. This former residence condenses the legend of Hugo's life. On the third floor of the museum, the "Chinese living room" is restored and displayed according to the living room designed and arranged by Hugo for his girlfriend Juliette druier when he was in exile on Guernsey island in the English Channel. Odine told the reporter that he had been the curator of the museum for 11 years. Wandering in the living room, he often asked himself a question that all first-time visitors would have: Why did Hugo, who had never been to China, love Chinese culture so much? He told reporters that there were too many stories to explain. For example, Hugo's second daughter Adele recorded in her memoirs her father's first encounter with Chinese porcelain when he was 9 years old. For another example, when Hugo traveled to Spain in 1843, he wrote to his eldest daughter leopoldin that he was surprised to find a lot of Chinese porcelain in Spain. Audi Nei said that the decoration of the "Chinese living room" reflects the common love and appreciation of Hugo and Drouet for Chinese culture. Hugo collected Chinese artworks both in Paris and in Guernsey. Then, he used the "Chinese elements" to decorate the room of Drouet. The woodcut and the pattern on the lacquerware in the room were painted by Hugo himself, and then the carpenter in Guernsey was asked to carve. "Hugo was inspired by the figures, flowers and birds on Chinese furniture and porcelain, and used the strokes of Chinese art for re creation. He was immersed in the feeling of a Chinese painter." Audi said. Audi Nei believes that Chinese handicrafts and porcelain have been popular in Europe since the 18th century, and the difference between Chinese culture and the West has fascinated Europeans. "Specifically, porcelain, lacquered wood furniture, silk, etc. entered Europe as a carrier of culture. The artistic way in which Chinese culture expresses things and people is very different from that of Europeans. Therefore, for Hugo, Chinese culture is undoubtedly an element of his dream: its uniqueness, its unusual, its beauty, and it can arouse people's great curiosity. Hugo tried to find the key to understand Chinese culture." Audienne said that Hugo often tried to paint with ink splashing like Chinese painters in his own paintings. You should know that Chinese ink painting was rarely spread in Europe at that time. Odine said that Chinese readers know Hugo because of his works Notre Dame de Paris, les miserables and the year 93, and his famous letter to Captain Butler. After the British and French allied forces invaded Beijing in 1860, looted the precious cultural relics of the Old Summer Palace and set fire to the Old Summer Palace, Hugo wrote a letter to a French captain who showed off his military exploits in 1861, angrily denouncing the atrocities of the British and French allied forces, He also expressed his thoughts: "Greece has the Parthenon, Egypt has the pyramids, Rome has the Colosseum, Paris has the Notre Dame, and the East has the oldsummerpalace. If we say, we have not seen it, but we have dreamed of it. This is some kind of shocking and unknown masterpiece, which can be vaguely seen in the indefinable dawn, just like the silhouette of Asian civilization glimpsed on the horizon of European civilization." Speaking of expectations for the future, odine said that Hugo's former residence Museum has cooperated with China for many times in recent years. It has held exhibitions on Hugo in Guangzhou and Shanghai. Some precious decorative panels in the "China living room" have traveled to China as part of the exhibition. He said that before the outbreak of the epidemic, the museum had the largest number of Chinese tourists among foreign tourists every year. He hoped that after the end of the epidemic, he would continue to cooperate with China in exhibitions and promote the research and exchanges between France and China on Hugo. Audienne took us to the famous wooden pyrograph "acrobatic boy" in the living room: Hugo drew a Chinese acrobatic boy who kept balance on the chair. The shadow cast by the light on the boy's legs and chair just formed the initials V and h of victorhugo's name. This picture can't help but remind people of the ripples in the heart of the 9-year-old boy facing Chinese porcelain more than 200 years ago. This is the famous wooden pyrograph "acrobatic boy" in the "Chinese living room" shot at Hugo's former residence in Paris, France, on June 14. V and H are the initials of Victor Hugo. Photographed by Gao Jing, reporter of Xinhua News Agency This is the decoration details of the "Chinese living room" shot at Hugo's former residence in Paris, France on June 14. Photographed by Gao Jing, reporter of Xinhua News Agency On June 14, a tourist visited Hugo's former residence in Paris, France. Photographed by Gao Jing, reporter of Xinhua News Agency On June 14, a tourist visited Hugo's former residence in Paris, France. Photographed by Gao Jing, reporter of Xinhua News Agency This is a corner of Hugo's former residence photographed in Paris, France, on June 14. Photographed by Gao Jing, reporter of Xinhua News Agency This is the decoration details of the "Chinese living room" shot at Hugo's former residence in Paris, France on June 14. Photographed by Gao Jing, reporter of Xinhua News Agency This is the porcelain in the "Chinese living room" shot at Hugo's former residence in Paris, France on June 14. Photographed by Gao Jing, reporter of Xinhua News Agency On June 8, Gerard odine, curator of Hugo's former residence Museum in Paris and Guernsey, received an exclusive interview with Xinhua reporters in Paris, France. Photographed by Xinhua News Agency reporter sunxinjing (Xinhua News Agency)
Edit：Li Ling Responsible editor：Chen Jie
Source：Xinhuanet
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