The Novi Public Library has recently started to accept book donations which will be used to expand their collection and enrich their services. The TVC has donated over 500 English and Chinese books raised from an earlier ACA Book Drive.

Mrs. Amy Fei (费丹黎 ) recently published one book 《晓风鹤梦》. Her book introduces the works of the famous Qing Dynasty painter Fei Danxu. Ms. Amy Fei would like to donate her book to ACA library. TVC is happy to add this book to the ACA book collection and introduce it to many readers.

The author FEI Danli (also known as 费丹黎 in Mandarin) is raised in Beijing, China and now lives in Michigan, USA.  A freelance writer on literature and art at her spare time, Mrs. Fei published a book in 2021 on her great-great grandfather, FEI Danxu (费丹旭), a prominent Chinese traditional painter in the 19th century during the Qing Dynasty. A graduate from the Renmin University of China, she took classes on Chinese traditional art, read and wrote on art and literature frequently. The monograph on FEI Danxu provides reader with an encyclopedic look into the painter’s art career, styles as well as his personal life journey.

Fei Danxu (费丹旭), aka (Hao Xiaolou (号晓楼)), was a famous painter in the Qing Dynasty. He specialized in painting beautiful portraits, with delicate and elegant brushwork, light colors, and beautiful images. He was also a master at painting poetry as an artistic conception; he integrated portrait painting with landscapes to express the inner world of classic characters. His works include: “The Atlas of Twelve Golden Hairpins”, collected in the Palace Museum in Beijing; “The Old Picture of Orchard,” collected in the Zhejiang Provincial Museum; “The Picture of Dongxuan Yishe,” collected in the Zhejiang Museum; “Fan Yiyi” “Autumn Picture Axis”, held in the Shanghai Museum, etc. He is also good at calligraphy and poetry. He is the author of “Still the Manuscripts of Thatched Cottage” and “Unengraved Poems by Fei Xiaolou”.

I have known ACA for many years. Many Thanks to Nancy, Dillan’s Mom. Earlier in December, Nancy invited us to Creative Writing Workshop, that introduced TVC, ACA library and the donation events. The library is a place for people to learn, but ACA library is a great place for people to learn more about different cultures, especially Chinese cultures. I am surprised the library has collected over 3500 books. I am very happy I can help a little bit by donating my book to the library. I also noticed that ACA had a COVID-19 Relief virtual reading program. I would be very pleased to donate a digital version to ACA library as well.

This book is about my great grandfather Fei Danxu. He was a well-known Chinese traditional painting master in Qing Dynasty about 200 years ago. He is best known for his figure paintings, portraits in landscapes and narrative settings. The settings reflect the beauty of Chinese landscape garden in Suzhou and Hangzhou. He also painted landscapes, garden scenes, flowers. Many of his master pieces are museum collections in China and overseas. UoM Art museum collected several his paintings too. He also had talent for writing ancient poetry and calligraphy. Fei Danxu joined DongXuan poets society in Hangzhou. With some scholars, he constantly went out boating at West Lake and visiting historic sites, composing poems and painting, burning incense and drinking tea. All these cultures and traditions are the source for his paintings.

I started my draft many years ago, but they were just bits and pieces. Since 2020, working from home style saved hours of commute to office, and Stay home demand slow down our rushing steps in life. Instead of travelling, going to parties, shopping, I committed most of my spare time on writing my book. In my opinion, writing is not only to put words together on paper, but also to be informative, and expressing the emotion through accumulation of knowledge. As I was writing, I really enjoyed reading more relevant books, articles, thinking through ancient poets, and observing closely to each painting. Sometimes, I just forgot the time and worked to late night. I had a few conversations with my cousin, Fei Dawei, who wrote preface for the book. He is a well-known Art critic. You can find many of his footprints on internet.

In recent years, my friends in China have been talking about Chinese Culture renaissance. I wish the Chinese culture and the spirit of my great grandfather’s art works will be acknowledged and inherited by younger generations.

Please feel free to reach out to me if you would like to hear more about the book.

Thank you for your time. Wish you all Happy New Year!