走近倪東方大師

倪東方大師是德藝雙馨的石雕泰斗，中國工藝美術大師，是青田石雕史上一位豐碑式的人物。他的作品不僅多次被國家珍寶館、國家博物館收藏，還受到鄧小平、喬石、溫家寶等黨和國家領導人贊賞，堪稱“石界齊白石”。但就是這樣一位成績卓著、高造詣、高成就的大師，一輩子只念過小學，一輩子都不愿走出那個生他養他的小鎮。他像謎一樣深深地吸引著我。帶著疑問，在一個秋日的傍晚我采訪了他。距離近了，慢慢地進入了他的精神世界，知道了一個人的成功并非偶然，從中明白了許多道理。

“大道至簡”：專注一件事，干成一件事

倪東方1928年10月出生在青田一個石雕藝人之家，15歲從母學藝。倪大師跟我講，小時候生活在鄉下，那時窮，又逢戰亂，家里兄弟姐妹又多，吃不飽干活累是常有的事。但鄰里和和睦睦，非常團結，人也單純，彼此都感到快樂、充實、幸福。“我一輩子沒有離開過山口小鎮，就是喜歡它的純樸與簡單，不是沒有機會到大城市或國外生活，我還是喜歡生我養我的鄉下。”這位耄耋老人說：“‘大道至簡’是我喜歡的一句話，也是我做事的風格。我不喜歡人與人交往過程中那種過于復雜的關系，作為一種處事方法我更崇尚簡單。因為我人單純善良，真誠待人，懂我知我的人也多了，我的事業也慢慢地成功了。”葉春雄和倪大師夫婦做了多年鄰居，他深有感受地說：“只要倪東方在，我們整個小巷都熱鬧，這兩口子待人特和氣，夏天每日煮好涼茶放在門口讓路人喝。”從倪大師位于菜市場的工作室到其新家“惜石齋”陳列館有一段路程，但只要有人慕名而來，倪大師不顧年邁都會坐三輪車前去接待。

我在采訪中問他，您從一個鋸石工成長為一代石雕大師靠的是什么？他告訴我，他能有今天，得益于一輩子只專注于一件事，努力干好一件事。他認為人生有許多選擇，看準的事就要心無旁騖，專心用心，并且把它做好。“石頭是很考驗人的，一塊石料，我往往一琢磨就是半年一年，心浮氣躁是做不出好作品的。”倪老說，“我想既然選擇了從事石雕藝術，就得一心一意地去學鉆，整天與‘不能言’的青田石打交道，把心中所思所想化成一件件作品，我從中感到無限的樂趣，也忘卻了寂寞和煩躁。”

“非常道”“石之道”：順乎自然，天人合一

倪東方出生在山區，長期工作在石鄉，但他是一位勤學善思、追求精神境界的智者。區別于大多石雕家，只念過小學的倪東方好讀書，好深思，信奉“讀書養氣，讀書生魂”。數十年來，古代四大名著、唐詩宋詞始終伴隨左右，這些經典文化的潛移默化，成為他一生攻藝中去粗取精、拒俗求雅、汰劣得優、刪繁就簡、力求高格的良師益友。他曾像詩人一樣推敲那件封門五彩石杰作：是“一林霜催鳥鳴秋”好，還是“鳴秋催來一林霜”好？他的詩詞題刻，看似尋常，卻發自肺腑，意中有意，味中有味。如石雕作品《戀松圖》所題“黃鶴樓中不見鶴，青松樹上樂悠悠”；《雨后》—“雨后風拂，竹山淋濕。一夜攻尖，玉芽遍發”；《眠枝》—“眠枝未醒，春雷非驚。梅花落時，枝葉方青”……這些題刻無不凝聚著深厚的人文底蘊。倪老創作激情不關年事，一浪高過一浪，一峰勝過一峰，他靜聽石語，以意境為上，不愧為“用石說話”的極富想象力的詩人。

順乎自然，天人合一。倪大師是“妙造自然”的思想大師，首先在于尊重自然，“順乎自然，天人合一”，是他的著名創作方法。“道，可道，非常道”，以“石之道”轉達了世人能感受卻說不出來的神秘，創造出天地間最奇妙的詩篇。像《奔流》《璣珠俏》《神眼》等作品，都是九分天成，一分自運。這“一分自運”來自于他一貫堅持的“妙造自然”，來自他長期積淀的藝術涵養。他說：“青田石是經歷上億年時間聚集天地之精氣而形成的，是大自然賜給我們的珍貴寶石，是不可再生資源，應該善待、愛惜每一塊青田石。”他經常告誡自己：“要惜石如金，刀下留情，構思尚未成熟，絕不輕易動刀，要尊重每一塊石料，最大限度消除化解其瑕疵，將精華部分利用起來，展示出來。”比如其代表作《花好月圓》，石料原是一塊硬石，之中夾著一層青色凍石。他曾閉門謝客三天，將硬石一點點輕輕剝離，從而獲取一片質地十分純凈的上等封門凍石，為創作成功提供了基礎保證。還有一件被稱作《睡美人》的作品，不露任何刀痕，而細細觀察之，則猶如一美人披著一件薄薄的黃綢緞，作沉睡狀，讓人遐思無窮。這件作品，有十來斤重，上半部分純系黃金耀，下半部分青玉凍，大師稍加修飾，拋光去痕，睡態隱現，是一件介于雕與不雕之間的成功作品，真可謂不著一字，盡得風流。

堅守底線：不作假、不為名利所惑

堅守底線就是不作假。自己的作品，就是自己的作品，徒弟的作品就是徒弟的作品。倪大師告訴我，在市場經濟的大潮中，在物欲橫流的今天，在一個范圍小熟人多的地方，要做到這一點還真不容易。他把握住了自己。他認為一個藝術家的聲譽高過一切。擋住誘惑就是不為名利所惑。現在名氣大了，上門的人多了，“包括一些新聞媒體的記者，他們要給我‘再出名’，我能拒絕的都拒絕。我是一個上了年紀的人，多給自己留點清靜時間，多給后人留點作品是實實在在的事，‘名氣’對我來說，實在是無所謂了。其實‘名氣’有時還是一種負擔。”對自己的作品，他還有一個原則:就是能不賣就不賣，留在“惜石齋”里，讓人看到完整的青田石。“外界認為‘青田石’就是‘封門青’，這是一種誤解。其實青田石是非常豐富多彩的，各種顏色都有，太漂亮了。我開‘惜石齋’就是讓人們了解青田石，讓世界了解青田。這些年，我搞了一個公益項目‘千絲巖’，現在是4A級景區。景區投入大，我就出售自己的部分作品用于‘千絲巖’建設，但能不賣，我還是堅持不賣，特別是一些代表性作品，將來是要留給國家的。所以有人對我的作品開價幾百萬元、上千萬元，甚至過億都有，我不會因為金錢而動搖自己的原則。我覺得‘精神富有’，比‘物質富裕’更重要。”

這位著名青田石雕藝術家、高級工藝師，是國家級非物質文化遺產項目代表性傳承人。至今在石雕藝苑中刀耕近七十載。在漫長的藝術生涯中，他專注于石頭世界，以超凡的藝術秉賦和旺盛的創造力，創作出了許多具有極高藝術價值的石雕珍品。他善于傳承和創新，因材施藝，巧用俏色，無論是花卉、蔬果，還是蟲鳥、走獸，乃至人物，刀落石開，形神兼備，令人嘆為觀止。他的代表作《秋》，獲第二屆中國工藝美術品百花獎優秀創作設計二等獎；《秋菊傲霜》獲第六屆中國工藝美術品百花獎優秀創作設計一等獎；《花好月圓》是他的扛鼎力作，被國家郵電部門選為特種郵票圖案，公開發行；《俏色印雕》、《楊梅》、《秋菊傲霜》被中國工藝美術館作為珍品收藏；名作《谷穗》、《瓜熟豆香》參加全國工藝美術展覽會，鄧小平同志視察時稱贊其作品“俏色用得好”。2006年，他被中國工藝美術協會授予“中國工藝美術終身成就獎”。

Master Sculptor of Stone in Qingtian

By Deng Tangliang

84-year-old Ni Dongfang is a national master of arts and crafts and a leading master of Qingtian Stone Carving， a national cultural heritage. His masterpieces are in the prestigious collection of China National Museum.

What makes Ni Dongfang special?

The legend has lived in Shankou， a small rural town in Qingtian County， for all his life. He rarely， if ever， leaves the town， for he prefers home to the fancy outside world. It is not certain if this makes him special.

He has little formal school education. All the formal education he got was from a local primary school about 70 years ago. Though that does not mean that the master is uneducated， six years in primary education certainly did not help him become a master.

As Qingtian used to have numerous male and female stone-carving artisans， Ni Dongfang started learning the craft from his mother when he was 15 years old. It probably helped him become a master. His mother certainly played a part. Starting early in life and living long enough certainly helps.

Lifelong dedication has contributed to his virtuosity. Started as a boy who cut stones and has matured into a master， Ni says that stone carving is his lifelong dedication. His maxim is: the best is the simplest. He believes his secret is that he has done one thing all his life and he has done it well. According to the master， stone carving tests one’s patience and dedication. He will not hesitate to spend six months examining possibilities hidden in a stone before he sets down to bringing the best out. He is willing and happy to communicate with speechless stones. He enjoys the limitless joy， forgetting solitude and anxiety. That is probably why he prefers to stay at home and is reluctant to communicate with the outside world.

Self-education has helped make him special. Though he has had only primary school education， he has spent decades reading Chinese classic novels and poetry. He contemplates a lot and he creates short poetic inscriptions for his stone sculptures.

For his art， Ni Dongfang seeks being natural. He wants his artworks to represent the basic idea of Chinese philosophy: nature and man are one. Of course， Ni Dongfang is not the only stone carving master who applies this belief to art， but he certainly knows how best translates the idea into reality.

Being natural means two things: Qingtian stones are non-recyclable. He treats each piece carefully so that none will be wasted. The precious stones often feature a challenge in texture and color distribution on surface. He exercises a minimalist style， doing as little as possible and leaving nature to speak for itself. Some of his best sculptures highlight his practice of the style: he does almost nothing and allows stone to present its own beauty in natural shape and color.

Ni Dongfang does not go to the outside world. The world comes to him. He now has a gallery that displays all of his carvings to the public. Many people mistakenly believe Qingtian Stone is only in one color. The gallery offers an excellent education on the beauty of Qingtian stones in rainbow colors and in all shapes. He is most unwilling to sell his artworks despite mind-boggling offers: from several millions to more than 100 millions a piece. He has a great variety of masterpieces to show his nearly-70-year-long career.

Ni’s creations are amazing: he is both traditional and innovative; he is great at turning a stone into a unique masterpiece. His sculptures recreate flowers， vegetables， fruits， insects， birds， animals， figures. He has won numerous prizes at national level. “Blooming Flowers and Full Moon”， his best sculpture， was chosen for a special stamp issued by the general postal office. Three stone sculptures by Ni Dongfang are now in the collection of China National Arts Crafts Museum.