在異鄉(xiāng)遇見(jiàn)故國(guó)

MEETING THE HOMELAND IN A STRANGE LAND

One morning during my journey, I woke up on Tatami. The wooden sliding door was surrounding; the breeze blew in through the screen; the outside world was just several meters away, where the rain drops were sliding down the eaves and falling into the garden in front of the gate…This homestay in Shirakawago reminds me of the Tang Poetry lines:“Lying in drunken stupor in a thatched cottage with the door open, you may catch the sight of a castle peak immediately once you wake up.”

Text by Shen Chi Translations by Bian Jiajin Photos by CFP

旅行中的某個(gè)早晨，我在榻榻米上醒來(lái)。木制推拉門(mén)環(huán)繞周?chē)?，微風(fēng)從紗門(mén)吹入，相距咫尺的室外，雨滴正從屋檐滑落，落在門(mén)前的花圃?xún)?nèi)……這是日本岐阜縣白川鄉(xiāng)的民宿，卻讓我想起一句唐詩(shī)：“醉臥茅堂不閉關(guān)，覺(jué)來(lái)開(kāi)眼見(jiàn)青山?！?/p>

The “smallness” of Shirakawago

Shirakawago early morning is gorgeous. In this damp space, the forests are shrouded in mist and Gassho and zukuris are located in the middle of greens. This is exactly the village that I've dreamed of.

The Gassho and zukuris in Shirakawago are adopting traditional construction techniques. The roofs and thatch are renewed every thirty years. At fi rst sight, they don't look like oriental architecture as the sharp roofs are somewhat European in style and even make me think of Swiss mountain villages. But inside the Gassho-zukuris, there are a lot of classic oriental features.

The village is small; you can wear getas and pyjamas to wander to the hot spring at night; the house is so small that it is hidden beneath the towering trees; the room is so small that a group of people must sit on tatami shoulder to shoulder; the corridor is small where people can sit quietly watching the view; the door is also so small that you need to lower your head humbly to enter. There are numerous conventional Japanese styles. They are like a Japanese meal box, tiny but sophisticated, and full of liveliness.

Smallness becomes the approach of Japanese aesthetics.

Tang Style Kyoto

Compared to the village, the ancient city Kyoto has another charm. One evening in Kyoto, some friends and I were looking for an Izakaya in Hanamikoji, but we accidentally entered some private areas in some alleys nearby. In Kyoto, it can be diff i cult to distinguish Izakayas from private areas. They have similar small doorplates or signboards. They both have very clean and tidy forecourts. Through the wooden framed windows, there is similar warm lighting. The houses are not so closed, while Izakayas are not that noisy. The window screen shimmering, the shadows fl oating; is that not the scene of a night view in the homeland described in the Chinese poem?

Kyoto is said to be built according to the look of Luoyang. Now, it's still very common to see“Luoyang” in Kyoto. The architecture most similar to Tang style can be seen here. Ryoanji or Sanjusangendo doesn't have the interior of a large and elegant building or cumbersome decorations, but all the interior components including the brackets are real, simple and quaint. Inside the building, you can smell the scent of wood at times.

The way the Japanese treat the old buildings is also interesting. Due to the poor durability of a wooden structure, Ise Grand Shrine is rebuilt every twenty years. Other old buildings are also renewed or repaired by “stealing girders to change the pillars”strictly according to the situation of the buildings. But whatever they do, they will not mix the repair with the genuine by using concrete, or pursuing the so-called “once for all”.

白川鄉(xiāng)的“小”

清晨的白川鄉(xiāng)分外美麗，濕漉漉的世界里，遠(yuǎn)處的山林霧靄環(huán)繞，一棟棟合掌屋正坐落在翠色的田間，這正是我一直夢(mèng)想的鄉(xiāng)村。

白川鄉(xiāng)的合掌屋仍使用傳統(tǒng)的工藝建造，每30年更換一次屋頂?shù)慕Y(jié)構(gòu)和茅草。乍一看不太像東方的建筑，尖尖的屋頂很歐洲，甚至讓我想起瑞士的山村，但合掌屋內(nèi)過(guò)著東方式生活。

村鎮(zhèn)很小，可以讓你穿著木屐和睡衣，在夜間輕松地走去泡溫泉；房子很小，可以藏身于參天大樹(shù)之下；和室很小，可以讓一群人在榻榻米上肩并肩地圍坐；檐廊很小，可以讓人在其下靜靜地觀景；門(mén)也很小，甚至要讓你低頭以謙卑的姿態(tài)方得進(jìn)入。傳統(tǒng)日式的林林總總，就像它的餐食一樣小巧而精致，充滿(mǎn)生活的氣息。

“小”成了日式對(duì)于美的一種態(tài)度。

唐風(fēng)京都

相比鄉(xiāng)村，古城京都則有著另一種魅力。

京都的夜，我和幾個(gè)同伴去花見(jiàn)小路尋找居酒屋，卻在附近的幾條小街里屢屢誤入私宅。在京都，居酒屋和私人宅邸居然難以分辨，一樣小小的門(mén)牌或店招，一樣干凈、整潔的前院，木格窗內(nèi)，也一樣透露著溫暖的燈光。宅子沒(méi)那么封閉，居酒屋也沒(méi)那么喧囂。窗紗微亮，人影游動(dòng)，這是唐詩(shī)宋詞中的故國(guó)夜色嗎？

京都據(jù)說(shuō)是按照洛陽(yáng)城的模樣建設(shè)，至今還能看到不少“洛陽(yáng)”的字樣。在這里，能看到最接近唐代的建筑。不論是龍安寺，還是三十三間堂，沒(méi)有雕梁畫(huà)棟，沒(méi)有繁瑣裝飾，包括斗拱在內(nèi)的所有構(gòu)件都真實(shí)、簡(jiǎn)潔和古樸，身處建筑中，不時(shí)聞到原木的清香。

日本人對(duì)待古建筑的方法也很有意思，因?yàn)槟窘Y(jié)構(gòu)不耐久，所以伊勢(shì)神宮每20年就重建一次，其他的古建筑也大都采用“偷梁換柱”的方式，嚴(yán)格按照原貌保持動(dòng)態(tài)的更新和維護(hù)，但不論怎樣，絕不會(huì)用混凝土以假亂真，不會(huì)追求所謂“一勞永逸”。

Echoes of the homeland

Traditional Japanese architecture is epitomised

by its frame structure. Being minimal and real is its modern factor.

In Teshima Art Museum, under the concrete roof like the purity of sky, dozens of people are silent, just hearing the sound of the wind touching the trees, the waves rolling up and down. Through two holes in the roof, we can see the clouds wandering and the forests dancing. I've never had an experience like that. Before I came here, I didn't even understand why they built such an “empty” building. But as all is still, we started to feel the things we hadn't seen, to face the self we hadn't ever noticed. This work may represent the meaning of “emptiness”, may be a salute to nature from mankind.

Modern Japanese architecture doesn't just reproduce old styles, but traditional philosophy does inf l uence contemporary art and aesthetics. Tadao Ando's design has the traditional sense of ceremony and spatial narratives; Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa's works have the traditional blurred boundary; Kengo Kuma emphasizes the

traditional surface and texture. Contemporary Japanese architects draw on classical Japanese culture and aesthetics from different fi elds, and employ the most modern materials and techniques to illustrate the contemporary architecture. They are architects, artists and philosophers, but above all, they are craftsmen pursuing extremity.

Some people describe Japanese aesthetics as these features: “uneven, simple, proud, natural, mysterious, extraordinary, ref i ned and silent.”Masayuki Kurokawa also described Japanese artistic attitudes with eight key words: “Miniature, Integrate, Imposing, Spacious, mysterious, Simplicity, Addition, Break-through”. In my opinion, they have modesty and reverance towards nature and tradition, and they have haughtiness and loneliness in their spiritual world.

In the last moments of my travels, something occurs to me. If Tang is my homeland and Japan a strange land, when something touches on traditional culture, contemporary arts or the spiritual world of masters, I seem to hear the echoes from my homeland.

故國(guó)的回響

日本傳統(tǒng)建筑為框架結(jié)構(gòu)體系，其簡(jiǎn)練真實(shí)的性格具有先天的現(xiàn)代基因。

在豐島美術(shù)館，在如天幕般純粹的混凝土屋蓋下，幾十號(hào)人靜默于此，只聽(tīng)到風(fēng)吹樹(shù)林、海浪起伏。透過(guò)兩處洞天看著云的游走、樹(shù)林婆娑，那一刻，我有著前所未有的體驗(yàn)。來(lái)之前，我不明白為什么要建造這樣一座“空”的建筑。但當(dāng)“萬(wàn)籟無(wú)聲天地靜”的一刻，我們開(kāi)始注意平時(shí)看不見(jiàn)的事物，開(kāi)始面對(duì)平時(shí)看不見(jiàn)的自己。言不盡則致遠(yuǎn)，情不盡則味深。這個(gè)作品或許就是“空”的意義，是人工向自然的致敬。

日本當(dāng)代建筑絕不復(fù)古，但傳統(tǒng)的哲學(xué)極大影響了當(dāng)下的藝術(shù)和審美。安藤忠雄的建筑有著傳統(tǒng)的儀式感和空間敘事，妹島和世、西澤立衛(wèi)的建筑有著傳統(tǒng)的模糊界限，隈研吾的建筑有著傳統(tǒng)的表皮與質(zhì)感。日本當(dāng)代的建筑師分別在不同的領(lǐng)域繼承了日本的文化和審美，并用最現(xiàn)代的材料和工藝去詮釋當(dāng)下的建筑，他們是建筑師、藝術(shù)家、哲人，更是極致的匠人。

有人把日式的美學(xué)總結(jié)為“不均整、簡(jiǎn)素、孤高、自然、幽玄、超凡脫俗、靜寂”等直觀的特質(zhì)，黑川雅之也用“微、并、氣、間、秘、素、加、破”八個(gè)關(guān)鍵詞來(lái)概括日本的審美意識(shí)。在我看來(lái)，日式美學(xué)具備謙卑與高傲兩種看似矛盾的屬性，有對(duì)自然、傳統(tǒng)的謙卑和敬畏，也有著精神世界的高傲與孤獨(dú)。

旅行即將結(jié)束的時(shí)刻，有些東西涌上心頭。如果大唐是故國(guó)，日本是異鄉(xiāng)，但當(dāng)觸碰傳統(tǒng)文化、當(dāng)代藝術(shù)，還有大師精神世界的時(shí)刻，似乎在異鄉(xiāng)聽(tīng)到了故國(guó)的回響。