年的畫

年的畫

殘 臘 初雪 霽， 梅 白 飄 香蕊。

依 前 又還是，迎春時 候 ，大 家 都備。

寵 馬 門 神， 酒 酌 酴 酥，桃 符 盡書吉利 。

—— 節(jié) 選自 宋 ·晁補 之︽失調(diào)名︾

Nianhua are prints or pictures celebrating Chinese New Year and originated in ancient China's Qin (221 -206 BC) and Han (206 BC-220 AD) dynasties. During this period images of gods on doorways fi rst appeared and were believed to be able to ward off evil spirits. With the maturity of woodblock printing technology in the Song dynasty (960-1279 AD), block printed New Year pictures appeared, fi rst in Zhuxian Town, Kaifeng City in north China's Hebei province. By the Ming (1368-1644 AD) and Qing (1644-1911 AD) dynasties, Nianhua had evolved into an independent form of art and its production peaked, particularly in such celebrated Nianhua production centres as Yangliuqing in Tianjin, Taohuawu in Suzhou, Weifang in Shandong province, Mianzhu in Sichuan province, Foshan in Guangdong province and Fengxiang County in Shaanxi province, where New Year woodblock prints prospered almost around the same time.

If New Year marks a new start, then New Year pictures carry the hopes of the Chinese for a new life. Feng Jicai, a famous Chinese writer, once said: “You can't ignore Chinese New Year pictures if you want to understand Chinese farmers' aspirations throughout a history of thousands of years.” Chinese people are never tired of expressing their desires for good fortune and well-being in the form of colours and lines. For them, a new year doesn't start until their doors are decorated with spring poetry couplets or the walls with the character “Fu” (meaning“good luck”) placed upside down because an “upside down Fu” pronounces the same as“good luck arrives”.

Left: Lotus Flowers and Carps, a representative work of Yangliuqing.

左：楊柳青年畫代表作《蓮年有余》。

Right: Celebrating Lantern Festival, Yangliuqing New Year Picture.

右：楊柳青年畫《慶賞元宵》。

The themes of Nianhua are all-encompassing and change over time. Traditionally, New Year pictures were dominated by the themes of “keeping the evil spirits out” and “inviting the good ones to come in” and idols or gods, who served both realistic and religious purposes, featured heavily in the Nianhua of those times. Even today, some Chinese people still practice the tradition of placing the pictures of various idols or gods on the doors inside and outside their houses. These idols or gods include two generals –Qin Qiong and Yuchi Jingde – worshipped as door gods, plus other gods all around the house, such as the three gods of fortune, prosperity and longevity, the god of wealth, Lord Guan (Guan Yu), Dragon God (a water deity) and Zhurong (a god of fi re).

Some Nianhua pieces are themed on the ideals of ordinary Chinese people: peace, happiness and prosperity of families, health, longevity, harvest and so on. New Year pictures also refl ect the change of time. For example, right after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the ideals of communism became an overwhelmingly distinctive theme of New Year pictures, such as PLA, Long March, workers, farmers and soldiers. In the 1980s, which infl uence from such hit TV series as A Dream of Red Mansions and The Legend of the Condor Heroes, New Year pictures themes centered on the screen became quite popular.

Woodblock Chinese New Year pictures differ considerably in style across China. Yangliuqing Town in Tianjin, a leading producer of woodblock prints in China, produces elegant, luxurious and rich woodblock prints due to the infl uence of welldeveloped commerce, a booming folk culture, the tastes of richer classes, and the court painting and literati painting styles; Taohuawu in Suzhou, a key town of commerce and culture in Jiangnan region as well as a major destination for literati and artists, produces delicate and beautiful woodblock prints.

Today, the traditional woodblock print is no longer a New Year must-have for every Chinese household. Instead, it has become a craft or art that needs protection to survive. Although the process of sketching, plate carving and printing is timeconsuming and labour-intensive, New Year pictures still contain varied tastes of life, aesthetic appeal and thick emotions as well as inescapable nostalgia.

Left: Peace and Harmony, famous Taohuawu New Year Picture.

桃花塢木版年畫《一團和氣》。

Right: Working on a woodblock.

木版年畫的制作。

中國是農(nóng)耕古國，生產(chǎn)周期與大自然四季同步。年，被視為步入新生活的起點。每逢辭舊迎新，中國人都要感恩天地、崇仰先人、和睦族親、祈盼福祉，并為此創(chuàng)造了無數(shù)充滿魅力的民俗方式，把對生活的向往、對幸福的企盼以及對災難和不幸的拒絕盡情表達出來。年畫就是其中之一。

中國年畫的起源可追溯到秦漢或更早的驅(qū)鬼、避邪之類的守護神門畫。宋代，隨著雕版印刷技術(shù)的興盛和成熟，年畫逐步演化成有著色、套色的木版刻印年畫，在中國繪畫史上首開了木版年畫的先河。明清時代，年畫已經(jīng)成為一種獨立的藝術(shù)形式，其制作更是達到了鼎盛，天津楊柳青、蘇州桃花塢、山東濰坊、四川綿竹、廣東佛山、陜西鳳翔等年畫產(chǎn)地幾乎是同時崛起，并齊頭進入了輝煌期。

如果年是一個開始，年畫就寄托了對新生活的企盼。馮驥才說 ：“如果想知道中國農(nóng)民千百年來的夢想，就去看他們的年畫。”中國人從不吝惜把過多的吉祥如意，凝聚在色彩與線條之間，和福字、楹聯(lián)一起，掛滿自己的大門和墻面。新的一年，就在這濃濃的一派喜色中開始了。

年畫的內(nèi)容包羅萬象，早期的年畫都與“驅(qū)兇避邪、祈福迎祥”這兩個主題有著密切關(guān)系，且以信仰類功能性的神像為主。每逢除夕之時，家家戶戶、屋里屋外到處貼滿各司其職的神像。如以秦瓊、尉遲敬德兩位武將為主的門神，還有“福祿壽三星” “財神爺” “鐘馗” “關(guān)公” “龍王” “火神”等等。還有一部分年畫主題是展示百姓們自己對生活的向往，如家庭安樂、人丁興旺、長壽康健、五谷豐登等。

木版年畫幾乎覆蓋整個中國，但各地的年畫又迥然不同。如天津楊柳青因畿近京都，商業(yè)發(fā)達、文化繁榮，為了順應都市大戶人家的審美要求，崇尚精雅與華美，風格受宮廷繪畫與文人畫影響較大，妝金飾銀，華貴富麗；蘇州桃花塢地處“姑蘇城外錦成堆，商賈肩摩云集來”的江南重鎮(zhèn)，水陸暢通，文人云集，年畫亦反映出婉媚秀麗的氣質(zhì)。

如今，傳統(tǒng)的木版年畫已經(jīng)從家家戶戶過年的必備品，變成了被保護和傳承的藝術(shù)品。這其中，有綿密的生活滋味，有審美的情趣和豐沛的情感，有一代人對另一代人的諄諄叮囑，更有中華民族千百年來難解的鄉(xiāng)愁。