到北京出差，過天津時總能聽到列車員報站名：“楊柳青到了！……”，聽了這地名我有些驚訝，北國竟也有這么好聽的地名呀？可惜每次都因公務(wù)在身，不能下車一睹楊柳青芳容。

坐在我旁邊的是一位天津人，他見我對楊柳青產(chǎn)生興趣，有些得意起來，向我娓娓說道：“我國年畫最為著名的產(chǎn)地有4處：天津的楊柳青、山東濰坊的楊家埠、江蘇蘇州的桃花塢、四川的綿竹，其中楊柳青年畫與南方著名的蘇州桃花塢年畫并稱“南桃北柳”。楊柳青距天津十余公里，自古以來就是天津西面的重要門戶，所謂“楊柳青青映津門”。

說起楊柳青年畫倒很有些印象，像年畫《連年有余》《五谷豐登》《連生貴子》《長命百歲》等等，總讓人們在心中揮之不去。不過幾十年過去了，我們建起了高樓大廈，許多人家都不貼春聯(lián)、不貼年畫了，這種源于民間的草根文化，如今怎么樣了呢？

今年陽春三月，我的楊柳青之行終于如愿以嘗。當(dāng)我到了天津西青區(qū)楊柳青鎮(zhèn)的時候，映入眼簾的是鱗次櫛比的高樓大廈和現(xiàn)代化的城市廣場。唉，我心中想象的那個千年古鎮(zhèn)楊柳青，根本不該是這種模樣呀！既然楊柳青已經(jīng)現(xiàn)代化了，那么傳統(tǒng)的楊柳青年畫還存在嗎？我問導(dǎo)游，導(dǎo)游笑而不答。

不想出市區(qū)南行1公里，一幢幢雕梁畫棟仿古建筑立即映入眼簾，其中還有一處“楊柳青”的牌坊，導(dǎo)游介紹說那是楊柳青年畫作坊的舊址，如今許多畫店已經(jīng)搬進(jìn)明清街仿古建筑群里。

如今的楊柳青鎮(zhèn)矗立在二水夾流中間。鎮(zhèn)北有退海后天然生成的子牙河，鎮(zhèn)南是京杭大運河，兩河清洌之水滋潤著大地，激蕩出楊柳青的千年文明。難怪明代文豪吳承恩流連楊柳青美景，留下了傳世名句：“村旗夸酒蓮花白，津鼓開帆楊柳青。壯歲驚心頻客路，故鄉(xiāng)回首幾長亭。春深水暖嘉魚味，海近風(fēng)多健鶴翎。誰向高樓橫玉笛，落梅愁覺醉中聽”。

楊柳青無論是遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)眺望還是置身其間，都能讓人們領(lǐng)略其古老的文化內(nèi)涵。它那歷經(jīng)風(fēng)雨的古老建筑、風(fēng)格各異的民居還有那迂回曲折的街巷、橋梁以及潺潺的溪流，帶給我們的皆是視覺的享受以及心靈的震撼！古鎮(zhèn)被評為全國魅力名鎮(zhèn)，中央電視臺在《魅力中國·魅力名鎮(zhèn)》頒獎詞中對楊柳青這樣評價：“古老的大運河為這里帶來深厚的積淀。雖然運河水早無當(dāng)年輝煌，但是這里仍然文脈昌盛，一派斯文。這里的年畫天下聞名，幾百年興盛，幾十年衰落，如今已經(jīng)全面復(fù)興。文化是這里不滅的靈魂，京師附近的平原小鎮(zhèn)，中國文化傳承名鎮(zhèn)楊柳青。”

楊柳青鎮(zhèn)的得名有一段傳說：清朝的乾隆皇帝是個喜動不喜靜的人，這年陽春三月乾隆和劉羅鍋沿運河泛舟下江南，到了衛(wèi)津鎮(zhèn)（即今天的天津市）古柳口，乾隆忽然“呀”的一聲滿臉堆笑兩眼放光，直瞧著南岸。原來岸上有個十七八歲的農(nóng)家少女在河邊洗衣，乾隆目不轉(zhuǎn)睛地看著。劉羅鍋禁不住在旁竊笑，故意問道：“萬歲爺，您說世界上什么東西力量最大？”乾隆不假思索答道：“虎唄!”劉羅鍋微笑著搖頭。乾隆微怒道：“那你說是什么？”劉羅鍋神秘地低聲道：“是女人。”乾隆道：“為什么？”劉羅鍋說：“臣方才看見，那河邊的女子把龍頭都牽引過去了。”乾隆頓時面紅耳赤，忙辯說：“朕不是看那女子，是看堤上楊柳！你看那柳條婀娜，多么青翠，多么可愛呀!”他突然以守為攻地問：“劉愛卿，此處是什么所在？”劉羅鍋一怔，他并不知道這運河畔的小村鎮(zhèn)原叫太平莊，后又改名為古柳口，但他畢竟足智多謀，便當(dāng)即順著皇帝的意思說：“此處是楊柳青!”“噢，是楊柳青!”乾隆和劉羅鍋都會心地笑了?；实劢鹂谟裱?，一句話說出去就算是欽定御封，從那時起，天津西郊的那個村鎮(zhèn)就叫楊柳青了。

千百年來，楊柳青固守著一片青青的楊柳，一灣淡淡的溪水，一張古樸的年畫，一座精美的小城，在時代風(fēng)云變化中保持自己，又在保持中不斷變化。

在楊柳青年畫館，有個展廳展示了楊柳青木版年畫600多年的發(fā)展史。據(jù)歷史記載，北宋末年靖康之變，金國攻破開封皇城之后劫掠三千宮匠北上，這數(shù)千工匠行到古柳口（楊柳青）時，有幾位宮廷畫師病篤難行，在當(dāng)?shù)販粝聛?，于是楊柳青年畫由此肇始。楊柳青年畫在清乾隆年間達(dá)到鼎盛，曾有作坊100余家，從業(yè)人員3000余人，形成“家家會點染，戶戶善丹青”的空前繁榮景象。楊柳青年畫繼承了宋、元繪畫的傳統(tǒng)，吸收了明代木刻版畫、工藝美術(shù)、戲劇舞臺的形像和采取木板刻印和人工繪畫相結(jié)合的方法制作，形成了既有遒勁功力的木刻韻味又有民族繪畫風(fēng)貌的獨特格調(diào)。

楊柳青年畫采用寓意、寫實等各種手法，取材于現(xiàn)實生活、民間風(fēng)俗和歷史故事，漸漸成為一種民間喜聞樂見的藝術(shù)品。《連年有余》《五谷豐登》《連生貴子》《長命百歲》《連登太師》《福壽三多》等，那是我們熟悉的題材，另外還有侍女圖、神話故事、時樣節(jié)景、花果清供等許多圖案，此外還有《財神》《壽星》《門神》《孟母擇鄰》《金玉滿堂》等等，其中《門神》就是取材于傳說中的專打惡鬼、保護(hù)人間的鐘馗故事。

楊柳青年畫經(jīng)歷過輝煌，也曾瀕臨衰亡。為了搶救中華民間文化遺產(chǎn)，天津市啟動了楊柳青民間藝術(shù)復(fù)興工程，在政府的政策扶持和民間藝人的努力下，如今楊柳青年畫開始“中興”，從1992年開始，楊柳青木版年畫第六代傳人霍慶順、霍慶友兄弟為振興年畫恢復(fù)了老字號作坊“玉成號畫莊”，接著，“年畫張畫莊”、“古柳祥畫莊”、“富貴畫莊”等個體年畫作坊也紛紛成立。

“玉成號畫莊”是我們走進(jìn)的第一個畫店，樓下賣畫，樓上便是手工作坊。年過六旬的霍慶順師傅說，到他那里作年畫已經(jīng)是第六代了。他5歲就開始學(xué)彩繪，12歲開始學(xué)印刷，完全繼承了前輩傳統(tǒng)制作技法。他說正宗的楊柳青年畫有勾線、刻板、印刷、彩繪、裝裱五道工序，特別在彩繪工序上，對于人物的“罩臉”、“畫眼仁”、“勾睫毛”、“染衣紋”、“烘臉”、“上睛”等，都有獨特的畫技，絕不能“走樣”。

“年畫張”作坊是如今新式楊柳青年畫的代表，初始人張克強帶著近20個弟子每天在畫店忙碌著。在他的手工車間里大量印刷好的年畫初本整齊地排列著，徒弟們在空白處依次進(jìn)行彩繪上色。由于傳統(tǒng)木版需要幾塊木板來拼接畫樣，時間久了容易產(chǎn)生裂縫，而且由于木頭質(zhì)地不一，線條容易凸起或脫落，無法承受長期大規(guī)模的印刷，張克強改進(jìn)了工藝，目前他的大部分作品已經(jīng)放棄了傳統(tǒng)的木版套印，而采用一種叫“絲漏”的現(xiàn)代印刷工藝。據(jù)了解，這種工藝最大的好處，是使年畫的線條格外細(xì)膩精致，畫面和諧，而且可以實現(xiàn)大規(guī)模批量印刷，不用擔(dān)心木版上的木條老化剝落。

經(jīng)過改良后的“年畫張”產(chǎn)銷量很大，工作效率和畫面質(zhì)量都大大提高，一年有五六千張年畫銷往國內(nèi)國際市場，是目前楊柳青里發(fā)展最好的畫店之一。

Green Willows: A Famed Town on the Grand Canal

By Ma Jingjing

楊柳青 or Green Willows is a small town near Tianjin in northern China. I remember I used to wonder about the rare poetic images conjured up by the name in the usually-not-so-picturesque northern China whenever I heard a train conductor announce it as the next stop to passengers. It was not until I later learned something from a proud fellow passenger that I began to associate the name with the beautiful images of the traditional art. He told me that this Green Willows was exactly that one of the country’s four major producers of New Year Prints that I began to put the name and. In this part of the country， everyone has a chance to see some colorful and auspicious New Year Prints created by ingenious artists knows about Green Willows where the woodblock prints are produced. In celebrating the Spring Festival in the good old days， almost every household would ceremoniously post one or two Green Willows paintings at home in the hope of being blessed with harvest， fortune， good sons， longevity， peace， health and safety in the coming year.

In March 2007， I arrived at Green Willows for my first ever visit. To my surprise， the place that carries the name of Green Willows looks every inch of a modern city: a cement forest of high-rises and a large city-center square. Such a postmodern cityscape jarred the image in my mind of an ancient rural town with groves of lush willows swaying in breezes. “How can such a brand-new place still be home to the centuries-old art??I put this question to the guide. He did not answer but smiled mysteriously.

One kilometer south of the modern Green Willows Town in a western suburb of Tianjin we saw a large group of houses ornately decorated in the architectural style of the Ming and Qing Dynasty. Pretty soon， a grand archway appeared， flaunting the Chinese characters 楊柳青. I was informed that the location was exactly where ancient studios gravitated for centuries. Today， many new workshops and studios have moved into the newly built houses.

With many houses newly built， Green Willows still maintains part of its ancient expression. Flanked by a river in the north and the Grand Canal in the south， the small area boasts some age-old houses including some folk residences in various architectural styles， bridges across streams and a labyrinth of zigzagging narrow lanes.

According to the take-it-or-leave-it local folklore， the name Green Willows came from a conversation between Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and his prime minister on their incognito trip to the place. When catching the emperor staring at a young girl doing the laundry at the riverside， the prime minister asked the emperor what had the biggest power in the world. Still fascinated by the beauty of the girl， the emperor said offhand that it was the tiger. The prime minister whispered his answer to the emperor that it was women. He took the emperor for instance that just a moment ago the girl was able to make the emperor turn his ‘heavenly dragon head?to look at her. Embarrassed， the emperor suddenly decided to defend himself by making an offensive turn in the conversation. He asked if the prime minister knew the name of the place. The prime minister did not know， but resourceful， he said it was Green Willows. Now fully recovered from his embarrassment， the emperor said it was Green Willows indeed. Since the emperor said so， the town became Green Willows.

The Green Willows New Year Prints Museum in town displays the 600-year-old history of the art. According to history， when the capital city of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) fell， the invaders from the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234) in the north captured 3，000 artists and craftsmen working at the palaces and sent them to the north. Some palace artists fell ill at a small village on their way to today’s Beijing. They stayed put. This is how the making of the New Year prints in the northern China took root in Green Willows. In the Qianlong years (1736-1795) of the Qing Dynasty， the art culminated， boasting more than 100 workshops with 3，000 artists and employees.

The Green Willows New Year Prints embody the painting styles of the Song (960-1279) and Yuan (1271-1368) Dynasties and carry the features of woodblock printings， handicrafts and operas of the Ming Dynasty. Today， artists use the woodblock printing technique， but painting skills are still an indispensable ingredient of these colorful prints. That’s why the Green Willows New Year Prints highlight both the characteristics of woodblock printing and the features of traditional painting.

Subjects of these prints vary from life， folk customs to history. In addition to traditional themes such as longevity， harvest， good sons and fortune， there are prints of maidens， fairytales， landscape， fruits and flowers. God of Fortune， God of Longevity， Door Guardians， and Zhong Kui the Ghost Buster are also very popular themes.

With a long history of booming popularity， the Green Willows prints suffered a huge setback in the 20th century. In order to revive the folk art， the Tianjin Government has issued preferential policies. Artists have responded enthusiastically， setting up workshops to revive their family crafts. Many artists are now in charge of age-old family businesses.

Nowadays， some artists strictly follow the time-honored techniques while some adopt new techniques. Zhang’s New Year Prints Workshop is a leading new-generation business. Zhang Keqiang， founder of his business， has nearly 20 disciples who work for him. The woodblock technique is no longer in use at his workshop because heavy-duty production requirements hurt the service life of costly woodblocks. Instead， his workshop uses a modernized screen printing technique to mass-produce prints. At Zhang’s spacious workshop are orderly heaps of prints on worktables where the disciples add colors into blanks. Zhang’s business， one of the best Green Willows New Year prints businesses in town， sells about 6，000 prints a year to the domestic and international markets.

(Translated by David)