余秋雨推崇都冰如

朱明堯

余秋雨先生作為一位著名作家和學者，當紅之始是20世紀九十年代，至今仍長盛不衰。他最擅長的文體是中長篇的散文隨筆，知識淵博，才華橫溢，文筆優雅而文史底蘊豐厚，讀之感覺到他的作品不但揭示了中國文化深厚的內涵，而且也為當代散文領域提供了嶄新的范例。余秋雨1946年8月出生于浙江余姚（現慈溪）。我在拜讀他的《文化苦旅》《山居筆記》和《霜冷長河》等集子之余，曾企望他有緣機能寫寫海寧的人文勝跡或人事流風。

這種文化期望竟然實現了。1996年10月2日，上海《文匯報·筆會》上刊登了秋雨先生的文章：《色彩還在輝耀——〈都冰如畫集〉序》。都冰如（1903-1987）先生，為海寧市袁花人，作為一位畫家——綜合藝術家，他著名于滬上是從上世紀三十年代開始的。余秋雨在《都冰如畫集》序言中寫道：“……淼淼六十余年，都冰如先生創作了難以計數的廣告設計、櫥窗布置、年畫、兒童畫宣傳畫。不妨說，在二十世紀，一個對生活中的審美符號稍有關注的中國文化人，幾乎不可能沒有遇到過都冰如先生的創造。都冰如先生既是一個面向社會的工藝美術家，又是一位從事純欣賞藝術的著名美術家，他的高層文化素質和美學修養，孕育了他把金石、書畫、詩詞熔于一爐的獨特的藝術風格，使他得以奉獻出讓人耳目一新的文化美術巨著，例如他以白居易、蘇軾、文天祥的詩意為題材的詩畫，便生動地表現出都先生胸中一直涌動著一種高貴的文化激動。看到這部分作品，我們終會明白這位美術家有一個多么深邃蘊藉的內在結構，外，可以撫摸現代街市；內，可以溝通千古精魂，這總是真正的大家風范。正是由于這個原因，都冰如先生即使在兵荒馬亂的年代也被很多人牽掛著……”在這篇不足兩千字的序文中，秋雨先生通篇從藝術感悟落筆，從審美認識延伸，從精神境界上升華，讀來生動傳神。

拜讀了余秋雨先生這篇美文后，我一是想讓它為更多的海寧人所賞讀，能從中知曉都冰如先賢的藝術貢獻，所以以復印件推薦給《海寧日報》副刊，發表于1996年10月25日。二是想能拜讀到《都冰如畫集》這部書及有關史料。但都老的遺屬之通訊地址遍找無著，最后想到試著相煩于余秋雨先生。

貿然致函秋雨先生表達求助代為聯系都冰如家屬之愿。大約只一周時間，即收到了他的回信：

明堯先生：來信收悉，感謝您的好意。可惜《海寧日報》在轉載拙文時刪掉了最后一段中的一個讓我真正動感情的‘文眼，于是也改變了這篇序言的性質，變成了一篇普通的評論，而我是從不寫評論的。此事頗有遺憾。

都冰如先生的家屬，我并不認識，是他們通過幾層外地親友的托請，才找到我寫序言。畫集由上海遠東出版社出版（上海冠生園路393號，郵編200233），責任編輯是周亞平、邵紅，可與他們聯系。

匆此簡復。即頌文安 余秋雨

1996.11.30

秋雨先生平易近人，熱情助人，未有某些“大家”的架子，對著我求溝通聯系渠道的要求，將出版社的地址、郵編及責任編輯的姓名詳實相告。對此，我甚為感動。

由于秋雨先生作了中介，接著我去信遠東出版社周、邵二位編輯，承他們回信，告知我關于都冰如先賢的女兒叫都安，又告知了她府上的地址、郵編和聯系電話。與都安女士聯系后，她分次寄給了我《都冰如畫冊》和印上畫作的年歷，以及多份都冰如藝術史料打印稿。經過欣賞、研究，我應約撰寫了《“綜合藝術家”都冰如》的人物隨筆，發表于1996年12月25日《浙江日報》的副刊上；后又以不同的視角和資料分別于《嘉興日報》和《美術報》上寫發了關于都冰如藝術成就及其鮮明風格的文章，并分別附刊半版左右他的書畫作品。

幸有秋雨先生的熱忱中介和都安女士的濃郁鄉情，我知悉了都冰如先賢的出身家庭為書香人家，他的伯父都俞是清末民初浙江的一位著名畫家……又知道了抗日戰爭前滬上舉辦“都冰如畫展”時，由于右任、徐悲鴻、潘天壽、陳之佛、呂鳳子和豐子愷等11位人士聯名“同啟”的200余字介紹文章中稱：“海寧都冰如先生，……早歲沉酣繪事，精研六法，舉凡國畫、西畫、圖案、篆刻，靡不窺覽……采各派之長，冶金石書畫于一爐，抒情寄意，創造一新型綜合藝術……”還知曉了冰如先賢是位與時俱進的美術家，新中國成立后五十余歲時，他加入了中國美術家協會，他的一幅年畫創作《和平之春》被選登在國慶十周年那天的《人民日報》上；他晚年設計創作了大型壁畫《畫堂春暖》，以工藝圖案和碑刻相結合的方法創作，陳列于上海賓館“嘉會堂”大廳正中；他成了上海市文史館館員，上海市政協第四、五屆委員……

海寧都冰如先賢的藝術影像所以能在20世紀末葉得到較廣泛的傳播和弘揚，余秋雨先生的序文，以及他對都氏后人跟故鄉的聯系起到了關鍵性的作用。

Du Bingru （1903-1987） was a native of Haining， a city in northern Zhejiang Province. He started as a pop artist in Shanghai in the 1930s. In his career， he created numerous advertisements， New Year paintings， cartoons and drawings for children， designed shop window displays. Those who take interest in the 20th-century Chinas culture cant miss the artworks he created. They were everywhere at least in Shanghai， one of the biggest cities of the country. In his spare time， he painted artistically. Among his artworks are paintings featuring historical celebrities. He was a man of poetry， seal engraving， and painting.

I had known about this artist of our hometown long before I read about him in an article in a Shanghai-based newspaper published on October 2， 1996. The article in less than 2，000 words was written by Mr. Yu Qiuyu， an essayist of national renown. The article gave a brief introduction to the artist and commented on his cultural significance. I was excited and thought it necessary to let more fellow Haining people know about the native artist. So I sent a copy of the newspaper article to the Haining Daily. Mr. Yus article came out on October 25， 1996. After reading Mr. Yus essay about a collection of Du Bingrus artworks， I wished to read that collection and know more about the artist. I hit upon the idea of contacting the relatives of the artist. I tried and failed. Then I took the liberty of writing Mr. Yu a letter to see if he could set up a contact on my behalf.

Yu wrote back a week later. He said in the letter： “Thank you for sending the copy to Haining Daily， but regretfully， the newspaper deleted a key phrase in the last paragraph. The deletion turned my foreword to the collection into a general commentary. I never write commentaries. The deleted version was regretful.”

He explained that he didnt personally know the relatives and family members of Du Rubing and that the request for him to write a foreword came through a convoluted network of common friends. He gave me the address of the publisher and the names of the editors and advised me to contact the editors for information.

The editors introduced me to Du Bingrus daughter， who sent me books and copies of documents and artworks. After studying and appreciating the material， I wrote an essay on Du Bingru. The essay was printed in the literary column of Zhejiang Daily on December 25， 1996. Shortly afterwards， I wrote two other essays about Du Bingru and his artist career from other perspectives. The two were respectively published in Jiaxing Daily and Art Weekly， each accompanied by half a page of his artworks.

Du Bingru came from a family of artists and scholars. Du Yu， an uncle of his， was a prominent artist in the decades that spanned the end of the Qing Dynasty and the founding of the Republic of China. Du Bingru himself held a solo art exhibition in Shanghai before the Chinese War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression started in the early 1930s. Eleven celebrated artists and scholars such as Yu Youren， Xu Beihong， Pan Tianshou， Chen Zhifo， Lyu Fengzi and Feng Zikai jointly wrote a short foreword for the exhibition. One of his New Year Paintings， titled ， was reprinted in Peoples Daily in celebration of the tenth anniversary of the founding of the Peoples Republic of China in 1959. Shanghai Hotel presents ， a tremendous wall painting of his， in the lobby. He was a member of Shanghai Research Institute of Culture and History and a deputy of CPPCC Shanghai Congress.

Haining is proud of Du Bingru， a local celebrity whose comeback into the public awareness toward the end of the 20th century is largely due to Yu Qiuyus foreword and Dus familys kindness and generosity.