在山水秀麗的浙江諸暨市，有座占地670平方米、名叫裕昌號的民間藝術(shù)館。這座民間藝術(shù)館的典藏數(shù)量之多、工藝之精，讓人嘆為觀止!

沿著右邊偏門走進了竹藝展覽室，陳列的是過去文人雅士所珍愛的一件件竹制文房用具和觀賞品：那典雅大方的梅花筆筒，不由讓人想起王冕只與梅花作伴、不沾半點世俗的清高；仔細端詳安然置于一角的竹簫，眼前忽然涌現(xiàn)“獨坐幽篁里，彈琴復(fù)長嘯”意境，再逐一欣賞那一件件竹根圓雕器、竹章、竹洗和由竹編成的篾盒、考籃、香籃、提籃、衣箱、亮格書柜、亮衣柜、屏風(fēng)、啟塵等等，讓人感到竹子跟歷代文人有緣，朝朝代代，竹子總與文人墨客有著千絲萬縷的聯(lián)系，看到這些竹制藝術(shù)品，你能感受到民間藝術(shù)品具有何等的生命力，感受到作為傳統(tǒng)越文化的深厚歷史積淀和豐富多彩!

錫器展覽室也讓人贊嘆不已。聽館主介紹，這種略泛銀白珍珠色的金屬，是世界上最古老的金屬之一，隨著歲月增添，錫和錫的工藝品滲透到了社會的方方面面，按流傳至今的分類，計有禮器、飲具、食具、燈具、煙具、熏具、文具、溺具等等，其中又以飲具、燈具最為常見，而飲具中又以錫壺為多。不僅日用品需要錫器，婚喪嫁娶也離不開錫器，當(dāng)時錫工藝品在諸暨應(yīng)用之廣泛，從這些館藏的錫器中可以窺見一斑!

越繡展覽室更是館主最津津樂道的一個展室。越州氣候溫和，蠶桑發(fā)達，自古盛產(chǎn)絲綢。優(yōu)越的地理環(huán)境，加之五光十色的越州花線，為越繡的發(fā)展創(chuàng)造了有利條件。據(jù)史料記載，早在2000多年前的越國，這里已將刺繡用于服飾。到了明代，畫繡的誕生又極大地推動了刺繡業(yè)的發(fā)展。刺繡藝人結(jié)合繪畫作品進行再制作，所繡佳作栩栩如生，致有“以針作畫”、“巧奪天工”之稱。

從表現(xiàn)題材來看，越繡的實用品如戲袍、衣料、壽屏、桌圍、團扇等圖案，多用云、龍、鳳凰、麒麟、獅子等；欣賞品常以民間喜聞樂見的內(nèi)容或以神話傳說為題材，如“并蒂蓮”、“喜相逢”、“百子圖”、“西廂記”、“金玉滿堂”、“五蝠捧壽”、“龍鳳呈祥”、“百鳥朝鳳”等。為使圖案嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)豐滿，越繡采用金線墊繡的手法墊凸之后再施以刺繡，使繡品表面呈立體感，更具金碧輝煌的浮雕效果。

在越繡展室最讓我流連忘返的，是那一尊尊栩栩如生的越繡造像。這些繡像在他們平靜寧和的外表下，蘊含著民間藝人的高超工藝，沉淀了民間藝術(shù)的無窮魅力。他們像是在嘆息，又像是在傾訴，與他們面晤，你一定會靜下心來想聆聽他們訴說些什么，也想去細細梳理他們衣褶處的每一個痕跡，并被他們帶到遙遠的過去……

最后一站是椅子和床展室，各式各樣的古老的床和椅，讓人看得眼花繚亂。

床在人的一生中利用率最高。李漁說過：“人生百年所歷之時，日居其半，夜居其半。”因此，床可以說是人們生活中的摯友。床的使用遠在商周以前，到了戰(zhàn)國床出現(xiàn)了髹漆彩繪工藝，漢代除了床外還出現(xiàn)專供休憩或待客的榻。到了明代，床的式樣造型變得豐富多彩，做工極為講究，裝飾技藝和工藝水平都達到相當(dāng)?shù)母叨?，計有架子床、拔步床、羅漢床等。

清代康熙以前的床榻大體保留著明代的風(fēng)格特點，至乾隆開始出現(xiàn)很大的變化，特點是用材厚重，裝飾富麗，追求豪華的氣派。至清代后期諸暨民間床上雕刻內(nèi)容多引用老百姓喜聞樂見的吉祥人物和民間傳說等。

床在人們的生活中顯得重要，故人們努力去設(shè)計它、裝飾它，而“椅”本是由床發(fā)展而來。在漢代，北方游牧民族胡床傳入中原，給中原廣大地區(qū)百姓們席地而坐的習(xí)慣帶來很大變化，到了唐代，雖有了椅子的名稱，但人們?nèi)园岩巫臃Q為床。唐代著名詩人杜甫在《少年行·七絕》中寫道：

馬上誰家白面郎，臨階下馬坐人床，

不通姓名粗豪甚，指點銀瓶索酒嘗。

這首詩描寫一個貴族子弟騎著馬走在街上，隨意走進素不相識的人家，坐在人家客廳的椅凳上，強索人家的酒喝。這里所說的床，決不會是供睡覺用的臥床。大詩人李白在《吳王舞人半醉》絕句中，則明確地把有靠背的椅子稱為床：

風(fēng)動荷花水殿香，姑蘇臺上宴吳王。

西施醉舞嬌無力，笑倚東窗白玉床。

椅子的出現(xiàn)是家具史的一次飛躍，它是高型家具的首次問世，使人從盤腿坐進化為垂足坐，改變了千百年來的坐姿；更重要的在于人的起居脫離了床榻，生活起居向床榻外擴張。裕昌號民間藝術(shù)館內(nèi)所藏的椅子有交椅、圈椅、太師椅、官帽椅、南帽椅、燈掛椅、筆桿椅、屏風(fēng)椅、書卷椅、一根藤扶手椅、靠背椅、小工椅、書卷背躺椅、晚清洛可可式扶手椅、躺椅、轉(zhuǎn)椅等等，各種坐椅功能一致，但款式卻是千姿百態(tài)，讓人目不暇接。

臨出門時，我想起吳冠中先生對文物的一段敘述：民間藝術(shù)的價值誕生于智慧。在現(xiàn)實生活中，總是糟粕多于精華，有幸被保留下來的“文物”，必然更是糟粕多于精華，出身糟粕，長壽而成精華，文物之幸也。

館主介紹說，館內(nèi)所有藏品主要源于以下途徑：一是源于家中舊藏；二是以收購入館。收購的范圍局限于諸暨，藏品以明清年代為主。

這些藏品經(jīng)過代代相傳，集中了無數(shù)勞動者的集體智慧，經(jīng)過無數(shù)次創(chuàng)造和傳承，形成了凝煉的民族藝術(shù)，它們淳厚、樸素，帶有泥土的芳香。文化部長孫家正曾經(jīng)講過：“非物質(zhì)文化遺產(chǎn)是我們中華民族的根和源，越是在社會發(fā)展快的時期，人們越不應(yīng)該失去記憶，更不應(yīng)該忘記回家的路。保護現(xiàn)有的歷史遺存，留下祖先的記憶，只有清晰地知道我們從哪里來，才能以更堅定的步伐和自信的心情向未來走去?！?/p>

Collection

Memories of Our Ancestors Refreshed

By Qian Rouyi

I recently paid a visit to Yuchang Folk Arts Museum in Zhuji City， Zhejiang Province. The private art museum may not be recognized as magnificent， for it covers a ground of merely 670 square meters. However， it has a collection of amazing folk arts items created by our ingenious ancestors.

The first exhibition room highlighted exhibits all made of bamboo. They were items mostly for a scholar’s study such as brush-pen stands， flutes， sculptures， seals， bamboo-woven boxes， baskets， wardrobes， bookcases， and screens， etc. These reminded me of ancient poems that described a quiet life made graceful by these pieces. They also reminded me how an ideal life could be symbolized in folk arts and traditional culture.

The second exhibition room featured exhibits all made of tin. According to the curator， the metal was among the earliest discoveries of human beings in the world. The metal and its art gradually permeated the social life in all respects. If classified according to their functions， the tin pieces we have inherited from our ancestors can be divided into ritual pieces， drinking utensils， tableware， lighting instruments， smoking sets， stationery， and chamber pots， etc. The most common are drinking utensils and lighting instruments. Tin pots are most frequently seen for drinking utensils. From the large collection of tin pieces， I could see how popular these tin pieces were in everyday life once upon a time in Zhuji.

The pride of place in the museum was the room where embroidery was on display. Since ancient times， a mild weather has allowed the silk industry to thrive in Yue， the ancient name for this part of China. Rainbow-colored threads made embroidery on silk possible. As early as two thousand years ago， our ancestors in the Yue Kingdom put embroidery on their cloths. In the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)， the Yue embroidery thrived again when painting was introduced into the ancient art. Embroidery artists recreated paintings on silk so vividly that the artists were lauded as painting with needles.In ancient times， most popular designs were zoomorphic creatures such as dragons， phoenixes， lions， and kylins， which often appeared on theatrical costumes， clothing fabrics， birthday scrolls， table runners， and round silk fans.

The last exhibition room displayed chairs and beds. I was amazed by the wide variety of styles. According to experts， beds appeared in the Shang Dynasty (C.1600-C.1100 B.C.). There were painted beds in the time of the Warring States (475-221 B.C.). The Ming Dynasty witnessed a turning point in the art of making beds. Design， workmanship， style， and decoration for bed making climaxed. The first part of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) inherited the bed-making art of the Ming Dynasty. It was during the reign of the Emperor Kangxi (1654-1722) of the Qing Dynasty that great changes occurred in the making of beds. Solid materials were emphasized while decoration tended to be luxurious and magnificent. In the later stage of the Qing Dynasty， beds made in Zhuji were mostly decorated with sculptures of auspicious human images and folk tales.

Chairs were comparatively late. The archetype of chairs was first introduced to the central kingdom during the Han Dynasty (206B.C.-220 A.D) from northern nomads. Though the word “chair” was already in use in the Tang Dynasty(618-907)， the chair was still known as a bed. Tang poems testify to the moniker. Chairs marked a revolution in the history of Chinese furniture. Before chairs were introduced， Chinese people sat cross-legged on the ground for centuries. Chairs radically changed the way the Chinese sat. The museum displayed chairs in dozens of categories and each category had a great variety of designs.

According to the curator， the items of the collection came mainly from two sources: those handed down in families from generation to generation， and those purchased in the area around Zhuji. Most exhibits at the museum were made in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

These treasures tell me who we were and where we were from. They refresh our memories of our ancestors.

(Translated by David)