“以匾研史，可以佐證；以匾習(xí)書，可獲筆意；以匾讀辭，可得精髓”，請看——

早就知道根雕藝術(shù)大師鄭劍夫情系古匾，收藏古匾近千塊，是個“匾迷”，不久前浙江省民族民間藝術(shù)保護(hù)工程專家委員會還授予他“收藏保護(hù)獎”。我振奮之余，在一個爽朗的晴天專程隨他前往嵊州古村華堂“百匾館”，一睹那些在光陰長河里沉淀下來的匾額。

出嵊城，跑車輕盈地駛行在坦蕩的路面上，談笑間20多公里路程倏忽即至。

金庭鎮(zhèn)華堂村古名桐柏莊，自晉王羲之交卸郡篆，仰慕剡縣（今嵊州市）秀山麗水，歸隱素有“二十七洞天”之稱的金庭后，書圣一脈一直在此生息繁衍。據(jù)《王氏宗譜》記載，晉書法家王羲之的三代子孫均善書畫，時人曾稱此地為“畫堂”，又因這里東有金庭山、北有石鼓山，瀕臨平溪江，加之景色華麗，后人遂取諧音，易名“華堂”。

華堂村臥波小橋，飛檐古祠，與千年牌坊和阡陌相連的田園交融成一幅水墨畫，踏著綠茵中鵝卵石鋪就的小徑，我們似乎從畫中來到“百匾館”。迎面一座青磚砌就的外墻大門上，“百匾館”金字匾額熠熠閃亮。

院內(nèi)有一天井，暖陽朗照，花草襯映。館內(nèi)那琳瑯滿目、歷盡滄桑的古匾，猶似一本本敞開了的浸透了傳統(tǒng)文化的大書。

匾也稱匾額，源于圖騰崇拜和書體流變，它是中華民族古代文明的產(chǎn)物，文化含量巨大，歷史信息豐富，藝術(shù)形態(tài)多姿，思維空間寬廣，哲思意味深長。它折射的是社會稱頌的道德，尋找的是高山流水的知音，弘揚(yáng)的是齊家治國的情操，見證的是中華文明的輝煌。說起收藏匾額的緣由，鄭劍夫快人快語：“1998年，我去皖南采購雕刻用的根材和古沉木，在農(nóng)家的豬圈里瞥見一塊古匾，沾滿糞水的匾體依然可見暗紅色的本相?？ヅK污，尚能辨清明代年庚，遺憾的是匾的一角已被豬啃咬得不成模樣。當(dāng)時，我心里那個疼啊，真是難以言狀!”從此，他風(fēng)塵仆仆，跋涉于福建、浙江、江西、安徽、湖南、湖北諸省，“云騰致雨，露結(jié)為霜”，終于以數(shù)年如一日的艱辛與快樂，喚醒不知沉睡了多少年的古匾，讓它們走出鄉(xiāng)村，走出山野，走出古宅、書院、殿宇，重見天日，登上大雅之堂。

我在百匾館“匾巷”間逡巡，目睹在這個靈性的世界里，暗紅、藤黃、赭褐、藕灰、緇黑諸色之氤氳，浮雕、陰刻、彩繪、線描、鑲嵌之嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)?shù)溲牛瓡?、隸書、真書、行書、草書之斗奇爭艷和褒獎勵志、頌德賀歲、祝壽慶喜、敘事崇仰、名人名言之豐瞻博大，那“文章堂”、“文魁”、“奉政大夫”、“風(fēng)同渭水”、“國尊鳩杖”……，真是一匾一故事，一匾一歷史！那鏤月裁云的筆意化出氣韻生動的東方意象，那金聲玉振的雕刀刻出風(fēng)骨秀異的民族品格，真乃非天工不能奪其勢，非鬼神不能窮其妙。一種由人文、史事、民俗、建筑、書法、美學(xué)、文化藝術(shù)所融就的幻影般的神秘感，讓我仿佛乘上了時光的傳送帶，與原本和我等有云泥之隔的朱熹、王守仁、董其昌、祝允明、徐文長、方孝孺、林則徐諸大家交流對話，真讓人感受生命的粗獷和奔放，體味命運(yùn)的短暫與無常，你在無間的氛圍里有了知識的長進(jìn)、有了領(lǐng)悟后的歡娛……

日上中天，陽光將長空洗得格外清新。我懷著對久遠(yuǎn)的記憶，戀戀不舍地步出“百匾館”。老友劍夫見我對古匾癡迷如斯，遂邊行邊說：“至今，我收藏的古匾已近千塊，朝代宋、元、明、清、民國都有，這里展示的僅是冰山一角，紹興柯巖的‘歷代名匾館’、北京的‘中國科舉博物館’都有我收集的古匾。2003年10月15日，江澤民同志在浙江省委書記習(xí)近平、省長呂祖善等陪同下視察了‘歷代名匾館’并為之題詞，真讓我百感叢生。往后，我將一手抓根雕的創(chuàng)作，一手抓古匾的收藏，更好地保護(hù)文化遺產(chǎn)!”聞得此言，我也為之動容，不是么!古匾作為中國特色文化的景觀之一，作為中國文化藝術(shù)中的瑰寶，在世界上享有盛譽(yù)。古人云：以匾研史，可以佐證；以匾習(xí)書，可獲筆意；以匾讀辭，可得精髓。其中所蘊(yùn)含的有形的物質(zhì)和無形的精神可謂難以估量。鄭劍夫這發(fā)自內(nèi)心的深情，正如草木之于土地，游子之于故園，由此而成的情結(jié)自然是永難割舍的。

A Collector of Ancient Plaques

By Xing Zengyao

I had long since learned that Zheng Jianfu was a fanatical collector of ancient plaques. Recently， an experts committee for folk arts protection in the province has honored the collector for his protective efforts to rescue ancient plaques. On the other day， I traveled all the way to the ancient village of Huatang in Shengzhou to take a look at his private museum of plaques.

Huatang is more than an ancient village. In the Eastern Jin Dynasty (265-316)， Wang Xizhi， presumably the greatest calligrapher in the history of China， resigned from the court and retired to the scenic village. More than 20 kilometers out of Shengzhou， the village looked like a painting: houses with the double-eave roofs， small bridges spanning brooks， age-old memorial archways， and farming fields with crisscrossing footpaths. At the end of a tree-flanked pebble path spread a courtyard. On the grey front wall was the name of the museum: Museum of Hundreds of Plaques. Of course， the title was inscribed in gilt on a plaque. Beyond the wall was a large dooryard where the sunshine splashed luxuriously on flowers. Inside， on display were hundreds of plaques.

Plaques point to an ancient Chinese art that combines ancient totem worship and calligraphy. They date back to the country’s earliest days. They display history， art， philosophy， social virtue and responsibility， lifestyle， family mottos and aspirations， best wishes and celebrations. In short， they stand eloquent witness to China as an ancient civilization.

How come Zheng Jianfu started to collect these plaques? The enthusiasm got ignited in 1998 when he traveled to the southern part of the neighboring Anhui Province on a business trip to seek and buy tree roots and water-logged timber as raw materials for his creative sculptures. In one village， he spotted a plaque in a pigsty at a farmer’s house. After the plaque was retrieved and cleaned， he could see it was made in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). One corner was totally damaged by the gnawing of pigs. It made his heart ache to see such senseless waste. He decided then and there to rescue plaques no matter where they were. He searched widely across provinces over years. His efforts paid off and gradually and steadily his collection of ancient plaques grew.

I wandered inside the museum， fascinated by these plaques. A great variety of calligraphic styles， artistries， celebrated quotations could be seen， a great variety of arts went into the making of these treasures， and a great amount of essences of Chinese culture went into the inscriptions on these plaques. One can easily detect， on these plaques， the teachings of great scholars and thinkers in the country’s history.

After the unforgettable experience inside the museum， I walked out with certain reluctance. The sun was high in the sky. Memories of the past were still with me. Zheng told me more about his collection.

It turned out that he has rescued nearly 1，000 plaques. The museum in the village holds only part of his precious collection. Some of his plaques are displayed in a plaques museum in Keqiao， Shaoxing and some are in the collection of Beijing-based Imperial Examination Museum. On October 15， 2003， President Jiang Zemin， accompanied by the top provincial government officials， visited the museum in Keqiao and wrote an inscription on the occasion for the museum.

As an artist of root sculpture， Zheng understands the importance of these plaques. He explains， “These plaques are unique treasures of the Chinese culture. No other countries and regions in the world have such things. I feel obliged to promote our cultural heritage.”His remark reminded me of ancient sages’statements that plaques offer insight into history， provide lectures on the art of calligraphy， and teach how to write succinctly and poetically.

(Translated by David)