衡門牛歌，筆墨寄情

莊月江

2017年2月，畫家阿衡（朱秉衡）女士將100幅作品捐給夫家的故鄉(xiāng)浙江龍游縣。她以百幅整數(shù)捐畫已不是第一次：2008年4月，捐給父親的故鄉(xiāng)湖南長(zhǎng)沙一百幅作品;2014年5月，捐給母親的故鄉(xiāng)上海嘉定一百幅作品。

阿衡，1940年生于衡陽(yáng)。父親在抗戰(zhàn)中意外殉國(guó)后，她隨母親回到外婆家生活。1956年，她考入中央美院華東分院附中，畢業(yè)后保送浙江美院版畫系學(xué)習(xí)并留校工作。1962年，她主動(dòng)要求到龍游從事中小學(xué)美術(shù)教學(xué)教研工作。從16歲算起，她畫畫已經(jīng)整整62個(gè)春秋。

我是在1996年“三八節(jié)”前夕，在衢州一個(gè)女書畫家的座談會(huì)上認(rèn)識(shí)阿衡的。阿衡，胖乎乎的一位中年婦女，剪短發(fā)，戴眼鏡，衣著樸素而端莊儒雅。會(huì)議結(jié)束時(shí)，她拿出一幅四尺整張國(guó)畫《牛與女娃》，送給市婦聯(lián)。

有感于阿衡的熱忱純樸和瀟灑大度，我與她聊了幾句閑天，囑咐女記者許彤今后多關(guān)注她。此后，市里有畫家的采風(fēng)活動(dòng)，許彤必隨行。許彤每每告訴我，所到之處，阿衡大凡會(huì)作速寫，很是敬佩。

上世紀(jì)六七十年代，阿衡在教學(xué)之余，經(jīng)常獨(dú)自或帶領(lǐng)三五、七八學(xué)生去鄉(xiāng)下畫畫，這也許與她童年生活在農(nóng)村有關(guān)。牛是一道古老的活的風(fēng)景。于是，阿衡喜歡畫牛，并且將牛畫得生動(dòng)可愛(ài)。她寫過(guò)一首《摸魚兒·牛友》：“小時(shí)候，常去姑家，踏青歡笑十里。表兄牽牛相迎候，牛吟輕輕昵。大牛眼，笑瞇瞇，久等小女云霞起。相伴無(wú)聲，倚角上牛背。田埂細(xì)步，盡日好天氣。籬笆前，見(jiàn)屋后炊煙舞，太陽(yáng)正中午。老牛帶我清池畔，嬉水柳下臥……”這首詞，讀來(lái)通俗，感情輕松洋溢。

阿衡畫的牛，水墨淋漓，姿態(tài)可愛(ài)。我以為，她融會(huì)中西畫技，以大寫意手法創(chuàng)作，是打著“阿衡”印記的牛。我經(jīng)常詼諧地叫她“衡?！保偸菤g快地應(yīng)諾。

阿衡曾經(jīng)說(shuō)：“我畫牛不忘師傳統(tǒng)，師造化。我特別看重畫牛的眼神，從而畫牛的精神。畫牛其實(shí)是畫自己的思想，也就是畫修養(yǎng)，畫感悟，畫人品。”

阿衡畫牛，有一股牛勁，數(shù)十年堅(jiān)持不懈。什么是阿衡“自己心中的?！蹦?？即不怕苦、不怕累、不居功、不吹牛的牛。這“四不”精神，也是阿衡自己的追求。她對(duì)我說(shuō)：“畫牛使我心曠神怡、從容平和、淡泊名利、慈愛(ài)待人，也使我儉樸、勤敏、不爭(zhēng)人先。”

“不爭(zhēng)人先”？見(jiàn)我有疑惑，阿衡即解釋：“不爭(zhēng)人先，就是不爭(zhēng)畫名。”此話我信，阿衡確是一頭“不居功、不吹?！钡摹芭！?。在書畫界，她實(shí)干，低調(diào)。

阿衡畫牛“不爭(zhēng)人先”，卻以畫牛為榮為樂(lè)：“年少就讀西湖畔，蒼煙落照南山上。今朝臥牛游錢塘，美院展出心意長(zhǎng)。”

“今朝臥牛游錢塘?！倍嗝达L(fēng)光，多么氣派，又多么自得其樂(lè)！這是1999年9月阿衡在母校中國(guó)美院舉辦“匯報(bào)展”時(shí)寫下的詩(shī)句。

阿衡畫了無(wú)數(shù)的牛而不“千牛一面”，以牛點(diǎn)綴的山水畫亦不“千景一色”，這是她數(shù)十年如一日?qǐng)?jiān)持上山下鄉(xiāng)畫速寫的硬功夫所致。

20年前，我曾為阿衡寫一篇小文：“凡有牛照片或牛圖畫的報(bào)刊，她都收藏;凡與牛有關(guān)的文章，她都剪貼;她還將古人韓滉、戴嵩，今人齊白石、徐悲鴻、吳作人、李可染、丁犖，外國(guó)人戈雅、畢加索等百余位畫家畫的牛臨摹下來(lái);歷代文人詠牛的詩(shī)詞，她一一摘抄誦讀;外出寫生，她見(jiàn)牛必畫。十年間，若將草稿也算在內(nèi)，可以毫不夸張地說(shuō)，阿衡畫的牛，已成千上萬(wàn)?！保ā妒戤嬕慌！罚?/p>

2017年3月，阿衡邀我到龍游文化館看她的畫展。她指著六尺整張的《池畔樹下牛，相對(duì)水底影》對(duì)我說(shuō)，多年來(lái)，她一直想以唐朝詩(shī)人賈島詩(shī)句“獨(dú)行潭底樹，數(shù)息樹邊身”為內(nèi)容創(chuàng)作一幅畫，總無(wú)從下筆。一天，同是畫家的丈夫采風(fēng)歸來(lái)，給她看一張池邊長(zhǎng)著一棵參天大樹、樹下站著一頭大水牛的照片，阿衡喜出望外，這就是自己追索多年的意境??！她潑墨揮灑，濃涂淡抹，題款：“……唐人賈島三年得二句，淚流滿面地說(shuō)：‘此音如不賞，歸臥故山秋。是年我夫君去鄉(xiāng)間采風(fēng)竟喜得同此一景：‘池畔樹下牛，相對(duì)水底影?！?/p>

阿衡的“牛畫”，大致分三類。一是山水“牛”畫。她畫山水，幾乎幅幅都有牛的出現(xiàn)。如《數(shù)峰晚霞青似染，回首山路在云間》，80厘米×80厘米的畫面上，五六頭只有金龜子大小的牛魚貫穿行在林間小道上，一位趕牛人穿著紅背心走在后頭。由于有牛和人的存在，山水畫“活”了起來(lái)，有了動(dòng)感。

二是人物“牛”畫。阿衡畫人物，也以牛為主角，人物大都是稚氣未脫的牧童，有鮮明的時(shí)代特色，男孩彈吉他、放風(fēng)箏、釣魚、讀書、弈棋，女孩摘果子、做作業(yè)、洗衣、跳舞……于是，人和牛之間有情節(jié)故事，組成一幅幅盎然的生活畫面，牛的精神，人的氣韻，景的明麗，躍然紙上。她偶爾也畫老人與牛，如新作《釣翁》，題款簡(jiǎn)直就是一篇優(yōu)美的小散文：“垂釣者，古有‘愿者上鉤的姜公、‘持竿不顧的莊子，今有垂綸逍遙的老翁，不圖水中魚兒躍，只釣夕陽(yáng)氣恢宏”，可以想見(jiàn)畫面內(nèi)容。

三是花鳥“?！碑?。阿衡畫花鳥，自然以牛為代表。她曾作一幅《百牛圖》，贈(zèng)送給衢州孔氏南宗家廟。此圖成于2000年8月，由四張四尺整張宣紙拼成，圖中有牛109頭。畫幅的天頭又拼上一長(zhǎng)條書法《牛頌》。這《牛頌》，是阿衡自己創(chuàng)作的散文。

阿衡早年學(xué)的是水彩畫，并會(huì)木刻，懂水印，這就使她的國(guó)畫形成了獨(dú)特的風(fēng)格。在用墨上，她多吸取水印技法，比如，先在宣紙上灑一層水，再鋪墨敷色，使之產(chǎn)生水墨暈染的效果，顯得平和、恬淡，能較好地描繪出江南水鄉(xiāng)山色空蒙、水光瀲艷的美麗風(fēng)景。

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畫牛成名的阿衡，近年來(lái)喜歡模山范水。阿衡山水畫中的溪澗云煙、疊嶂層巒、危崖飛瀑、山花老樹，無(wú)一不透出江南丘陵的秀美——在一層水淋淋的薄霧中展示其千姿百態(tài)，如《靈山江邊》《沐塵橋頭》《梧村小街》《龍游石窟》《山村小學(xué)》《古村雁飛來(lái)》《廿八都小巷》等。老畫家壽崇德先生曾言：“見(jiàn)阿衡的畫，縱橫淋漓，墨濃虛空，詩(shī)書畫渾然一體，情景交融，還有水印的痕跡，很有新意，令人舒暢。如此瀟灑不拘一格，我為之振奮，女畫家中有如此魄力和追求實(shí)為難得。

阿衡以畫出名，其書法也別有風(fēng)味，獨(dú)樹一幟。早些年，資深編輯、作家項(xiàng)冰如先生觀看“朱秉衡國(guó)畫作品選”后，寫道：“我的注意力很快被題畫的書法所吸引。用一句時(shí)髦的話來(lái)說(shuō)，她的書法十分‘牛氣。質(zhì)樸而大方，如山澗泉流，飛瀉而下，富有動(dòng)感;初看似隨意而書，實(shí)則經(jīng)過(guò)精心安排，功底非常深厚，而且與整幅畫面渾然一體，相得益彰?！?/p>

阿衡畫畫，但文學(xué)功底也了得。她題款，多用自己創(chuàng)作的典雅詩(shī)句，如“最是看牛可人處，角大如虹腹如?！薄笆逡灰褂?，泉鳴遠(yuǎn)山碧”“煙嵐散影云水游，山鄉(xiāng)學(xué)子獨(dú)清幽。書聲朗朗乘風(fēng)飛，飛向世界競(jìng)所求”……近年她出過(guò)一本小冊(cè)子《詩(shī)雨繪風(fēng)》，收入個(gè)人詩(shī)詞百余首，如《滿庭芳·2007寧波畫展》中的“斜陽(yáng)外小巷口，熱湯團(tuán)，螃蟹橫走。襟袖里，灌滿咸味，銷魂漁村頭”，不就是一幅寧波獨(dú)有的風(fēng)情畫么！

“數(shù)載春秋龍游居，山鄉(xiāng)美術(shù)半生緣?！卑⒑獯蟀胼呑泳育堄危瑹o(wú)視榮辱，不計(jì)苦樂(lè)，“感悟造化從容度”——在美麗的靈山江畔，在巍峨的雞鳴塔下，聽(tīng)“牛歌聲聲”，觀“云峰翠綠”，畫自己的畫，走自己的路，“上下求索得心源”，終于“畫到真情無(wú)俗形”。

作為教師，阿衡已經(jīng)退休;作為畫家，77歲的阿衡仍然朝氣蓬勃。阿衡有一句座右銘：“真誠(chéng)地做人，真誠(chéng)地畫畫。”實(shí)踐了“真誠(chéng)”兩字，阿衡的人品畫品，也就為人敬慕。

（本文圖片由阿衡提供）

In February， 2017， artist Zhu Bingheng donated 100 of her works to Longyou County. This was the artists third donation. She had donated 100 works to Changsha - the birthplace of her father， in 2008; and another 100 to Jiading， Shanghai – the hometown of her mother， in 2014.

The artist， known by many as Aheng， is best known for her ‘buffalo paintings that show her unique freehand brush work style.

Born in Hengyang， Hunan Province in 1940， Zhu Bingheng spent her younger years with her mother and grandmother after her father died in a resistance battle fighting Japanese invaders. After graduation from the Print Art Department of Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts （todays China Academy of Art in Hangzhou）， she taught in her alma-mater for many years before settling down in Longyou， where she taught art in primary and secondary schools till her retirement.

In the 1960s and 1970s， Zhu Bingheng spent most of her free time taking students to the countryside to “paint from life”. It was during that time that ‘buffalo became her favorite artistic motif， probably because of her childhood memories about the sweet time spent with her cousin herding cattle in the fields.

“The key is the cattles eyes，” she summarized succinctly.

“Painting cattle is essentially expressing my thoughts about the world. In this sense I am painting myself. I feel relaxed and happy when I am painting cattle， because ‘cattle is the symbol of humbleness， indifference to fame and wealth， benevolence and diligence，” she explained.

In real life， Zhu Bingheng is a ‘cattle – loving， hardworking， down-to-earth and unassuming woman.

Her love and passion in the ‘cattle theme can be seen from her huge ‘cattle collection of everything from pictures， newspaper clippings and literary works to all genres of art works that include the image of ‘cattle.endprint

Also behind the artists accomplishments is her interaction with her artist husband. The chemistry between the two remained a source of inspiration for her artistic exploration.

Her ‘buffalo works roughly fall into three categories – landscape， cowboys， and bird-and-flower， with ‘buffalo being a common thread and adding life to the presentation. Many of her paintings are full of the innocence of cowboys playing guitar， or flying a kite， or playing chess with the company of a girl picking fruits， or doing homework， or dancing around. Occasionally， she would improvise a lovely essay to go with the image. One-hundred Buffalos， finished in 2000 and donated by the artist to the Confucius Ancestral Temple in Quzhou， is a combination of painting， calligraphic art and literary beauty.

Aheng started as a watercolor painter. Her attainment in wood print and watermark contributes to her unique artistic style in traditional Chinese painting， especially in the technique of Chinese ink. The result of sprinkling water on the rice paper before adding ink and colors is the desired ‘shading that brings out peace and tranquility of the Jiangnan water village vista. In many of her landscape creations， one can see through different poses and expressions of the undulating mountains and cascading waterfalls， all set in mesmerizing haze. These refreshing artworks highlight the artists unrestrained boldness in artistic pursuit.

The unique charm of her calligraphy， often used for decoration in her paintings， once caught the eye of famous writer Xiang Bingru， who praised the calligraphy as “unadorned and powerful”. “The seemingly effortlessness in her calligraphy shows the artists amazing artistic attainments，” the writer commented after seeing her landscape paintings.

The artists literary proficiency and taste， as shown in a poetry collection published a couple of years ago， also adds flair to the paintings.

The 77-year-old artist spent half of her life in Longyou， staying away from the ‘vanity fair and pursuing nothing but inner peace and artistic purity. She has retired as a teacher， but will never cease exploring in the world of art. Her life and art is the best illustration of how ‘sincerity blossoms into the most beautiful artist ‘flowers.endprint