俞琪
喜歡做船模的人不少,但是把船模按比例放大后,能制成可以實際行駛并經(jīng)久耐用的船只,不僅是杭州,在全省都屈指可數(shù)。71歲的莊恭禮就是其中之一,他的“江干古木船制作技藝”已被列入杭州市非物質(zhì)文化遺產(chǎn)項目。
最近,莊恭禮在制作一艘南湖紅船的模型,看起來已經(jīng)到了給船身刷漆的階段,但莊恭禮笑說,這不過才進行到四分之一。
“做船這件事,說起來簡單,但要給你說透,復雜得很?!鼻f恭禮說。
莊恭禮其實不是杭州人,他的家鄉(xiāng)在溫州洞頭。因為從小在海邊長大,與船的緣分自是不淺?!白嫔祥_始就有人制作木船,我的手藝傳自我外公?!鼻f恭禮說。
杭州工匠莊恭禮。
家里5個孩子,莊恭禮雖然排行第二,但老大是姐姐,再加上父親體力較差,所以養(yǎng)家糊口的重擔很早便落到了他身上。念了6年書后,16歲時,莊恭禮便跟著外公開始學習制造木船。
“剛開始學,外公就教我一句口訣‘四六配?!鼻f恭禮說,“四六配”簡單地說就是船體各處的比例,但具體到畫圖設計,一時半會還真說不清楚。而且“四六配”只是基礎,根據(jù)船的不同,會有不同的“配”。比如“四六配”相對來說在小一些的船只上用得多,大一點的船就需要“三五配”。
莊恭禮說,造船這件事,沒點悟性真學不會。他記得那時在家鄉(xiāng)的造船廠做臨時工,大部分工人都是做維修或是局部制作,能造出整船來的很少?!耙话?00個學徒來學,最后能學成的大概也就在10個人以內(nèi)。”
所以,莊恭禮說自己很幸運,有人教,也學得會。當時,造船廠的工作是很吃香的,而且基本上一年365天都開工?!白铋_始,一天的工資是一元錢,那時候一元錢能買10斤大米,能讓我們?nèi)胰硕汲燥柫恕!?/p>
當然,莊恭禮靠的不僅是悟性,還有刻苦。當時,船廠的老師傅會給大家布置任務,莊恭禮總是挑難度大的,遇到不會的,就去請教老師傅。久而久之,他的技術越來越精湛。
上世紀80年代,因生計所需,莊恭禮到了上海,開辦家具廠。因為工作忙,造船的手藝也就擱下了。
直到1997年,因為子女到杭州工作,莊恭禮也就跟著孩子們到杭州定居了?!伴e下來了,就想起這門手藝,覺得還是不能丟?!鼻f恭禮說。
最初,莊恭禮在杭州筧丁路上的五金城里有一間工作室。每天就在工作室里,鉆研他的船模,怎么做得更漂亮。“一般我們的經(jīng)驗,看起來漂亮的船用起來也好,看起來就不舒服的船,下水肯定是開不好的?!?/p>
這20來年里,莊恭禮前前后后制作了40余艘木制船模。
“有人要買,我都舍不得,只有兒子來要,我給了他2艘?!鼻f恭禮說,其中有一艘就是南湖紅船模型,所以這次他再做一艘,也是因為船模里少了這個類型。
筆者問莊恭禮,是不是計劃把各類船的模型都做齊?他哈哈大笑,說:“我們國家船的類型有幾千種,做全是不可能的,但我想我自己感興趣的船型,能盡量多做一些?!?/p>
莊恭禮細細琢磨,根據(jù)各個水域的情況不同,即便是同一類船,形狀也會有所區(qū)別。比如東海的船通常是兩頭尖,船身比較長,而南海、渤海的船,船身較短較寬,整體也較高。
“從全世界來看,我們國家造船的技藝也是比較高的。舉個例子,國外很多海上航行的大帆船,出一次海需要六七十名水手,如果是我們國家同等噸位的船只,大概一半船員就可以操作了。”莊恭禮說。
目前,在杭州閘弄口街道的支持下,莊恭禮在運河邊的會安閣有了一間船模工作室,他的作品也在會安閣及江干區(qū)文化中心非物質(zhì)文化遺產(chǎn)展示館等處保存和展示。
“國內(nèi)掌握這門技藝的人確實不多了,之前蘇州博物館想定制一艘木制船模,說是找了很多地方找不到師傅,最后找到了我。”莊恭禮說,當時這艘船模制作了大約2個月時間,費用是2.5萬元,“我用的是香樟木,如果用紅木的話,價格要翻一番。這樣的船模放上幾百年是沒有問題的?!?p>
莊恭禮制作的古木船微縮船模。
至于技藝的傳承,莊恭禮說,其實感興趣的人很多,包括附近有很多小朋友都喜歡到他的工作室來,也有不少退休了閑不下來的人,想跟他學習。
“粗淺地教一教還可以,但是真的要收學徒,我這里的場地還是不夠大?!鼻f恭禮說,雖然目前對于非遺的傳承與保護,政府已經(jīng)采取了不少舉措,包括場地建設和資金投入,但他還是期盼著能有更多來自各方的支持和關注,讓這門技藝傳承下去。
“我現(xiàn)在做的船模都是嚴格按照實際可以使用的船只,等比例縮小來做的,如果將來技藝難以傳承,至少還有個模板?!鼻f恭禮說。
Craftsman Makes Ancient Ship Models
By Yu Qi
Zhuang Gonglis craft makes a difference. The 71-year-old craftsman now living in Hangzhou makes ship models that can actually sail. His craft of making ancient ship models has been inscribed on the list of intangible cultural heritage of Hangzhou.endprint
Zhuang is not a native of Hangzhou. Born in Dongtou, Wenzhou in southeastern Zhejiang, he was exposed to shipbuilding in his childhood years. “Shipbuilding ran in our family in ancient times. I learned all the skills from my maternal grandfather,” recalls Zhuang.
After spending six years at school, the 16-year-old started his shipbuilding apprentice at the tutelage of his maternal grandfather. He recalls that it takes much engineering knowledge to build a ship. Most workers at the local shipyard could do a job or two, but few could make a complete ship. In his apprentice years, of 100 apprentices who studied shipbuilding, only about ten graduated as masters who could do all the jobs in building a complete ship. “I was lucky. I had masters who taught me and I was able to learn. Back then, shipbuilding paid handsomely and we had work to do all the year round. At first I was paid one silver dollar a day, which could buy five kilos of rice. I put the food on the kitchen table for my family,” recalled Zhuang.
Zhuang, as an apprentice, had more than smartness. He worked diligently. Back then, he always picked the hardest assignment when masters at the shipyard appointed apprentices to do different jobs. If he ran into some difficulties, he was able to ask masters for advice and suggestion. This way, he became a good shipbuilder.
In the 1980s, he went to Shanghai and set up a furniture factory. In 1997 he moved to Hangzhou after his adult children set up their homes in the city. Without much to do, he picked up shipbuilding as a hobby and began to build ship models. He had a workshop at a hardware market in a suburb of the city. He focused on how to make a model looks beautiful. “My experience tells me that a beautiful model sails beautifully and those that look not so nice usually cant survive much in water,” he explains his passion.
Over the past 20 years, he has made 40 some wooden ship models. He cant allow himself to sell his pet projects. He has given away two models at his sons request.
Asked whether he plans to cover a full range of ships in his amateur pursuit, he laughed and said, “It isnt possible to make all types of models, but I will try to build as many as possible.”
With the support of a local community in Hangzhou, Zhuang Gongli now operates a ship model studio at a location on the Grand Canal of China which crisscrosses the city. His works are displayed at the location and at a cultural heritage museum at Jianggan Districts Cultural Center.endprint
“Nowadays there are not so many people who can make a ship model. Suzhou Museum came to me for a wooden ship model after numerous failures to locate a master across the country,” says Gong. It took him about two months to build the ship model at the expense of 25,000 yuan. “I used camphor wood. If kept carefully, the model can last a few hundred years.”
Many people are interested in the shipbuilding technology. Children love to visit his studio and some adults want to study under his tutelage. “I can teach the essentials here. But working together with young apprentices requires a much larger space.”
The government has allotted funds and space for preserving the shipbuilding skills. Zhuang, however, hopes to get much more support from all walks of life. “My models are appropriately miniaturized ships that can actually sail. If my skills and expertise cant be mastered by someone, at least the models are there to be prototypes,” the ship model builder says hopefully.endprint