非遺傳人王玲和她的黃河澄泥硯 Chengni Inkstone
Wang Ling is 50 years old now. She has committed half of her life to Chengni Inkstone. Although she has achieved eminence in the art field, she is still low-key and reserved, like her works. People say that her inkstone touches like children』s skin but will make a sound like metal if you knock at it.
今年50歲的王玲，生命中一半的時間都在與黃河澄泥硯打交道。人淡如菊，雖然在藝術領域聲名顯赫，人前她依然如自己的澄泥硯作品一樣低調內斂，「觸之若童肌，叩之若金聲」是人們對王玲作品的印象。
In 1986, Wang Ling came to Zhengzhou with her husband Zhang Cunsheng from her hometown Anhui. A bond has been formed between her and the Yellow River culture since then. 「The Yellow River is my root and art is my life. My art will have no vitality without the Yellow River」, said Wang.
1986年，王玲隨丈夫張存生從安徽故鄉來到鄭州，從此便與深邃的黃河文化結下不解之緣。她說，「黃河是我的根，藝術是我的命，離開了黃河我的藝術也就沒有了生命力。」
131 failures make today』s Chengni Inkstone
131次失敗，成就了如今的澄泥硯
When ancient people describe the inkstone, they would say they are yellow like the eel, cyan like the crab shell, green like the mung bean, purple like the rose, white like fish maw and red like the shrimp head, which is enough to know its beauty and uniqueness. It appeared in the Tang Dynasty and disappeared in the Qing Dynasty. As a kind of inkstone which were popular with literati and poets and recorded in books, Chengni Inkstone has gradually faded out from people』s sight for hundreds of years.
鱔魚黃、蟹殼青、豆沙綠、玫瑰紫、魚肚白、蝦頭紅，這是古人對黃河澄泥硯的描述，足以見得它的精美和與眾不同。從唐代興起，到清代消失，一塊蘊含了萬千智慧，被多少文人墨客喜愛並載於書中的澄泥硯，就這樣逐漸淡出人們視線數百年。
However, spending nearly three years and experiencing 131 failures, Wang Ling and her husband finally presented this only mud stone of China』s four famous inkstones to the world again in 1991. What she paid is not only her best years but also her husband』s life.
而在今天的黃河畔，王玲和張存生花費近3年時間，歷經131次失敗，終於在1991年，讓這塊中國四大名硯中唯一的泥硯重新為世人所見。但她付出的不僅是青春年華，還有丈夫的突然離世。
Wang Ling and Zhang Cunsheng were born in Anhui. Zhang began to learn molding clay figures from his father when he was three or four years old. Wang Ling』s family was very poor and she had to mold clay figures to pay for her and her younger brother』s tuition. They got married because of the same hobby in 1985 when Wang Ling was 20 and Zhang Cunsheng was 19. In the next year, Zhengzhou planned to build the Yellow River resort area. They went to Zhengzhou with their parents and opened up an art area along the bank of the Yellow River to continue to study carving skills.
王玲和張存生都是安徽人，張存生三四歲就跟著父親學塑泥人。王玲家貧，她和弟弟的書本費都是靠她捏泥人換來的。共同的愛好使他們結緣，1985年，20歲的王玲嫁給了比自己小一歲的張存生。次年，為了鄭州黃河遊覽區的景區建設，他們夫妻二人攜父母來到了河南鄭州，在黃河邊開闢了一塊藝術天地，繼續鑽研雕刻技藝。
Cohesion of mud and fire along the bank of the mother river
母親河畔，泥與火的凝聚
Wang Ling said that the reason she decided to find the 「lost」 Chengni Inkstone back with her husband was a deep talk with Mr. Lu Guangzhao, the student of Mr. Qi Baishi and the master of traditional Chinese painting.
王玲說，讓她決定和丈夫一起把「失傳」的澄泥硯找回來的原因，是一次與齊白石弟子、國畫大師盧光照先生的深談。
「He said that what a pity that the Yellow River Chengni Inkstone has been lost」, said Wang Ling. We can say that the Yellow River Chengni Inkstone is the best inkstone. It was rated as the first among inkstones by the literati of Tang Dynasty. According to the legend, the Emperor Qianlong was extremely obsessed with it and wanted to get it very much. More importantly, it is an important part of the Yellow River culture, but it has been lost.
「他說，想到黃河澄泥硯失傳了，覺得太可惜。」王玲回憶道。原來，黃河澄泥硯被唐代的文人列為硯中第一。傳說乾隆皇帝嚮往澄泥硯到了走火入魔的境地，它可以說是硯中極品。更重要的，它是黃河文化的一個重要組成部分，只是已失傳。
「We felt that it is a real pity so we talked over and decided to make it」, said Wang Ling.
「聽到這，確實覺得很可惜，俺倆一商量，就說做吧。」王玲說。
Chengni Inkstone has a very high requirement for its materials. The mud brought from the outside must be stored in the room during the winter. In the following spring, the mud can be poured into a vat. After mixed with clean water, they are filtered until there is no impurity and then poured into a vat for precipitation.
澄泥硯的用料十分講究。拉回來的泥必須先在室外凍上一個冬天，次年春天時將泥倒入缸中加入清水，過濾到沒有雜質，然後再倒入缸中進行沉澱。
After the sediment process, the mud is neither too hard nor too soft. The surface of the clod is scraped with a knife and the remaining is wrapped with plastic and then they are put in caves for one year. After water is evaporated, they can be used to make mud and semi-finished products.
沉澱後的泥軟硬適中，就可將泥塊表面用刀刮掉，將剩下的泥塊用塑料布包好，放入窯洞中擱置一年，待水分揮發後才能開始和泥、制坯。
Better than porcelain and jade even without using glaze
不施釉，卻勝瓷、賽玉
Wang Ling lives in a courtyard hidden in the scenic area. In the courtyard, there is a cave dwelling with a red wooden door where she makes the Chengni Inkstone. Although it is cool in the cave dwelling, she often sweats at work.
王玲的住所，隱藏在景區曲徑深處的庭院。庭院里一個裝著紅色木門的窯洞，是她平時製作澄泥硯的地方。窯洞內雖陰涼，但工作時的她卻時常汗流浹背。
Before becoming a finished product, the inkstone needs to go through over thirty manufacturing processes, such as collecting mud, forming shape, engraving, putting into the furnace, burning, cooling, steaming, polishing, etc. Any little omission will make their previous efforts wasted, so the success rate of finished product of Chengni Inkstone is very low.
采泥、制坯、雕刻、裝窯、燒窯、冷卻、熏蒸、打磨……三十多道製作工序中任何一個小疏漏都會導致整件作品前功盡棄，因而真正的澄泥硯成品率很低。
Chengni Inkstone is made from mud. But it can show the glory and texture of jade without using glaze. Furnace transmutation makes this happen. This ever-changing effect relies on the experience of the producers and the temperature control. Wang Ling and her husband often stay beside the entrance of the furnace chamber for a whole night and keep a close eye on the fire change, and they even do not notice that they have blister on their mouths.
澄泥硯是泥做的，但卻不施釉就能呈現出玉的光彩與質地。而這一切，靠的就是窯變。但想要呈現出這種千變萬化的效果，只能靠製作者的經驗和對溫度的把控。為此王玲夫婦常整夜地守在爐腔口，注視著火候的變化，嘴唇燎起了水泡也全然不知。
Wang Ling said aChengni Inkstone may take more than 3 months.But if the inkstone does not meet the requirements, she will throw it away without hesitation. That』s why hundreds of rejected Chengni Inkstones are placed on one side of the entrance of the cave dwelling.
王玲說，每個澄泥硯要花費3個多月才能面世，但若出窯後的泥硯達不到要求，她會毫不猶豫地扔掉。在窯口一側，擺放著數百個廢棄的澄泥硯。
In 1999, Zhang Cunsheng was appointed to design Nine-dragon Dial, a gift Henan Province sent to the Macao Special Administrative Region. He worked for 3 days and 3 nights and fell to the ground on the fourth morning after completing the creation. A few months later, he died of kidney failure.
1999年，王玲的丈夫張存生受命設計河南省贈送澳門特別行政區的禮物九龍晷。他為此工作了3天3夜，第4天早上完成創作後一頭栽倒在地，幾個月後因腎衰竭去世。
The rebirth of the mud and the masterpiece of the Yellow River
泥之重生，河之絕唱，中原文化的實力名片
The Yellow River water flows ahead ceaselessly, with water and mud together. In 2007, the Chengni Inkstone was included in the first batch ofintangiblecultural heritage list of Henan Province. It is a people-oriented live cultural heritage.
滔滔黃河奔騰不息，水泥相裹滾滾而下。2007年，澄泥硯被列入河南省首批非物質文化遺產名錄，它是以人為本的活態文化遺產。
People from of old live on the existing conditions. In the Yellow River, half of its water is mud. Wang Ling dealt with the mud of the Yellow River for so many years. She and her husband not only made large decorative bricks from the Yellow River mud, but alsorestoredthe Yellow River Chengni Inkstone, and later they burned out the Yellow River gold mud tea set.
靠山吃山，靠水吃水，九曲黃河一碗水裡半碗泥，王玲這麼多年就是跟黃河泥打交道。用黃河泥，王玲夫婦不僅製作了大型裝飾磚雕，還用火萃取復原了黃河澄泥硯，後來還燒制出了黃河金沙泥茶具……
As the business card of the Central Plains culture, the Yellow River gold dust gradually regained its strong vitality. As the witness of 「the Central Plains memory」, Wang Ling will continue to promote and display the Yellow River culture.
作為中原文化的名片，黃河金沙泥逐漸恢復了其旺盛的生命力；而作為「中原記憶」的見證人，王玲也將在展現黃河文化的路上越走越遠。
As the rebirth of the mud and the masterpiece of the Yellow River, the Yellow River Chengni Inkstone will continue to glow with infinite glory in her hands.
「泥之重生，河之絕唱」，未來，黃河澄泥硯將在她的手中，繼續煥發出無限的光彩。
Interviewed by Wang Shijin
原創翻譯，轉載請授權
Managing Editor：Xiong Vivi
New Media Editor：Xu Tingting
TAG:WhereZhengzhou |