2006元旦剛過，北京艷陽高照，一片祥和氣氛。我如約來到北京方莊造訪暌違13年的吳冠中先生，保安幫我按了門鈴，開門的是師母朱碧琴。老太太穿件棗紅色外套，頗有新年喜氣。剛進門，吳老便穿著家常毛衣，步履輕快地迎出來。老人家握手很有勁，再看到他動作敏捷、精神矍鑠，感到十分寬慰。

久違的吳老與我交談時信馬由韁，天南地北，從別后生活到當前近況，從家鄉(xiāng)建設到親朋好友，他都很感興趣。談話間，吳老忽然起身到房里取出一份請柬給我，說：“15日中國美術館有我2005年新作展覽，請你去看看?！蔽医舆^請柬感到特別高興：吳老86歲了，僅去年的新作就能在全國最大的美術館搞個展，可見其精力之充沛、創(chuàng)作力之旺盛。我問他展出多少幅作品，他說大概30多幅水墨畫、20多幅書法。我一聽更為驚異，以前看過吳老好多次畫展，從不見有單獨的書法作品展出，看來這回是首次推出。怪不得一進門我就看到對面墻上鏡框中有一幅書法作品，寫了一個“曲”字，一看是吳老手筆，我原以為這是他偶爾為之，不想他認真地投入書法創(chuàng)作了！

吳老曾對我說過：“我是搞西畫的，毛筆字沒下過功夫，因此從不給人家題字?！比欢F(xiàn)在真的搞起書法創(chuàng)作了，我便冒昧地問：“以前好像沒見您創(chuàng)作過書法作品，什么時候開始搞的？”吳老告訴我2004年他身體不好，進了幾次醫(yī)院，沒有作畫卻寫了本自傳《我負丹青》。2005年身體恢復了一些，我進入不了那種“美意延年”的養(yǎng)老生活，又想搞創(chuàng)作，但大東西搞不動，便想起了書法。他說小時候也跟著老師臨過顏、柳、漢碑、石鼓等等，但依樣畫葫蘆，自己并未體會書體之美，所以也沒興趣鉆研下去。他覺得方今書壇，有些弊病真得改一改，有個報道說臺灣宋楚瑜到清華大學訪問，學校送他件禮品，上面寫的篆書校長都不認識。他說人家作為科學院院士、一個很出色的科學家也看不懂古代的文字，這不是校長的錯。書法應當跟著時代變化，如秦時代大篆不便交流了，李斯就改了小篆，漢字經(jīng)過多次改革，后來又有了隸書、楷書、草書直到現(xiàn)在的簡體字，每一次改革都是為了方便。然而現(xiàn)在的書法總是臨摹，實際是抄襲，重復自己，老百姓看不懂，這樣下去書法是沒有出路的。書法界很多人也說要改革，但爭來爭去也沒結果。我是以“救救孩子”的心情去搞書法的，我嘗試著表現(xiàn)寫字的造型美，當然首先要讓人認識，這樣才談得上美。我是搞西畫的，我想把西畫中的形式美、構成美與中國書法的特點結合起來，為中國書法的繼承和發(fā)展找一條出路。

怎么找呢？吳老說他不愿抄襲古人、不愿重復自已，他說藝術生命全靠創(chuàng)新而延續(xù)。他以自己的方式對漢字進行創(chuàng)意組合，對中國書法造型、字體變化以及漢字與人之間形象的親疏因緣做大膽的創(chuàng)新，揣摩文字的構架與韻律感，并用今天人人認識的簡體字營造漢字造型之大美，以書寫自已的藝術思想和人生感悟。吳老把這種藝術實踐戲稱為“老來種塊自留地：漢字田園”。

為了得到吳老具體的指點，我指著墻上那幅“曲”字請教：“譬如這幅作品，您創(chuàng)作時是怎么考慮的？”吳老開釋道：“這個‘曲’字是由許多線條構成的，有橫有豎，構成許多框框，具有構成美。外國人就是不認識這個字，也會有美感的?！闭f著，吳老拿出剛剛印好還未發(fā)行的《吳冠中2005年作品年鑒》，指著封面、封底對我說：“這封面上畫的是個孤峰，我把群峰都隱在后面了。畫面上突出夕陽中一個孤立的奇峰。封底是我的一張書法，‘孤峰夕照’四個字我穿插起來寫，構成一個圓形，有很多線條：橫線、豎線、直線、弧線，有機地構成一幅作品。把它和封面那幅畫配在一起，互相襯托，相得益彰?！边@時，門鈴響了，一位女士送來為吳老拍攝的幾張照片，我看到有一張吳老與師母的合影，背景是吳老的一幅書法，是沉甸甸的“土地”兩字。吳老看到我注意這幅字，便說：“這兩個字字體比較厚實。我當時想到了杜甫的兩句詩：厚地植桑麻，用以濟生民。肥沃的土地生長莊稼，養(yǎng)育萬民。所以我把這兩個字寫得豐腴、厚重，想表現(xiàn)出承載萬物的土地的厚重感。”我說：“看來搞中國書法離不開深厚的中國傳統(tǒng)文化底蘊?！眳抢险J可道：“是的，中國書法植根在中國傳統(tǒng)文化豐厚的土壤，離開了傳統(tǒng)文化，也就談不上書法的發(fā)展了?！闭劦竭@里，我想到現(xiàn)在書法界很多人也不滿意墨守成規(guī)地繼承傳統(tǒng)，多方探索改革書法的新路子，其中出現(xiàn)了一種所謂“丑書”、“怪字”，他們撇開了書法的傳統(tǒng)，拋開了漢字的形態(tài)，純粹搞抽象的東西，除了還是用毛筆墨汁，很少有人看得懂寫的是什么。我請教吳老：“這是不是改革書法的一條路子？這條路子可行得通？”吳老說：“書法必須改革，不改革沒有出路。但是我認為，第一，書法是人們交流、溝通的工具，必須實用、通俗，讓人看得懂。我寫的書法都是最普通的，而且是簡體字，大家都認識。古代的甲骨文、篆書，也是當時人們交流的工具，后來就是太繁了，才逐漸簡化，直到現(xiàn)在的簡化漢字；第二，書法必須給人以美感，形式美、構成美，即使不認識這些字的人也覺得美。有些搞書法的人完全拋棄了漢字的外形，搞抽象的東西。我說你搞抽象的東西完全可以，我不反對。但你不要說這是中國書法。中國書法有其深厚的文化底蘊和基本規(guī)律，離開了這些便不能稱為中國書法。我認為搞‘丑書’、‘怪字’不是拯救書法的正確路子，那條路子是行不通的。”

2006年1月15日上午，我應邀去中國美術館參觀“吳冠中2005年新作展”。35件水墨畫新作和首次面世的25件書法作品，引起了觀眾極大的興致。在書法作品中，“風箏不斷線”、“筆墨等于零”等語句赫然在列。漫步展廳，一幅幅書法作品穿插在繪畫作品之中，交相呼應，相映成趣，布局結構處處體現(xiàn)吳老的審美追求，觀眾們徜徉在吳老情意脈脈、春意融融的“漢字田園”中流連忘返。

幾十年來，吳老能把油彩和水墨這兩處藝苑經(jīng)營得爭奇斗艷、花團錦簇，他在耄耋之年創(chuàng)新不斷，想把“漢字田園”這塊自留地侍弄得花繁葉茂、賞心悅目，這種心意實在難能可貴。

Established Painter Turns to Calligraphy

By Xu Zhoupu

I paid a visit to Master Wu Guanzhong on the New Year’s Day of 2006， the first in 13 years. His wife Zhu Biqin， dressed in a purplish red outerwear， answered the door. The 86-year-old master in a homely sweater came to greet me in quick step and with firm handshake. I was greatly relieved to see that he was healthy.

We chatted and our conversation took its natural course. Then unexpectedly， he excused himself and went to a room and came back with an invitation. He asked me to attend his 2005 artwork exhibition to be held on January 15th at China Arts Gallery. I was amazed at the master’s creative energy and excited at the news that he was able to create enough to hold a solo exhibition at the country’s largest arts gallery! Filling me in on details， Wu explained that the exhibits would include 35 ink and wash paintings and 25 calligraphic works. I was more surprised. I had attended his solo exhibitions several times and had never known that the established artist had created anything in Chinese calligraphy. Then I remembered seeing a calligraphic work hanging on the wall when I entered the apartment. I didn’t know he had taken calligraphy so seriously.

So our conversation turned to his fresh pursuit. I asked him when he turned his eyes to calligraphy. He said in 2004 he wrote a memoir entitled I Let Fine Arts Down， for he was unable to paint creatively because he was hospitalized a few times in the year. After recovery in 2005， he tried to explore something creative. Since he was unable to paint something in large size， he turned his attention to calligraphy. He had learned Chinese calligraphy as a child， but gave it up later for he was not yet able to appreciate the beauty of the handwriting art. After taking a rough look at today’s calligraphic works， he realized that they were not as flourishing as expected. He said that by and large calligraphers today were not extremely creative. They copied and they repeated themselves and they created things difficult for ordinary people to understand. Calligraphers said they wanted to reform and innovate but there had been all the talking but no really positive results. Wu wanted to try his hands on calligraphy by integrating the figurative beauty of western painting with the features of Chinese calligraphy.

How would this integration be achieved? The master desired not to either repeat himself or copy the ancients. Innovation was the key. He creatively recombined components of Chinese characters and introduced bold elements and changes into new figurative designs， and created new structures and rhythms. He prefers simplified Chinese characters which ordinary people would recognize with ease and he puts his artistic interpretations and understanding about life into his calligraphy.

With his knowledge of Chinese culture， Wu Guanzhong expressed himself quite well in Chinese calligraphy. We talked about a few of his works. Then I mentioned some tricks tried by some calligraphers who set out to make Chinese characters look ugly or highly abstractive in their calligraphic works. I asked if it was a way out. The answer was negative. In his opinion， understandability was a standard for innovation in Chinese calligraphy and calligraphy should deliver a sense of beauty both in content and appearance. He did not object abstraction， but he said problems might multiply in naming abstract creations as Chinese calligraphy， for， in his opinion， Chinese calligraphy should be based on Chinese culture and intrinsic rules.

On the morning of January 15， 2006， I attended the exhibition. Arranged among the paintings， his calligraphies also attracted audiences. For decades， Wu Guanzhong has established himself as a master of oil painting and ink painting. In his evening years， however， he has turned his creative energy to Chinese calligraphy. His achievement in the new field is truly valuable.

(Translated by David)