把毛筆做到極致

陳文進

萊州保旺，位于山東省膠東半島北部沿海，數百年來，這里世世代代傳承著萊州毛筆的制作工藝。5年前，年近不惑的王松偉，放棄省城幾十萬的年薪，回萊州老家接班了手工制筆作坊。不為別的，他只想用最傳統的原料和手藝，做出傳承匠心的毛筆。

王松偉的毛筆作坊在朱橋鎮保旺王家村自家的院落里，筆坊名為“世匠”，意為“百年世傳，匠心守藝”。除了自己的家人，王松偉還另聘請了原萊州制筆廠的三位資深筆匠，其中就有他的師父于同軍。1984年，萊州毛筆在全國毛筆質量評比中榮獲第一名，于同軍就是參賽的核心師傅（毛筆制作需要數名筆工分工合作完成）。著名書法家啟功和劉海粟曾多次使用于同軍參與制作的毛筆。

古稀之年的于老先生，本想在家頤養天年，卻被關門弟子做筆追求極致的精誠之心打動，再次出山，支持王松偉的事業。由于市場上的毛筆制作良莠不齊，筆廠工人大多摒棄了費工費時的傳統制筆工藝，毛筆原料上也多以化學纖維替代動物毛。筆的成本大大降低，筆的質量卻大打折扣。

萊州， 歷來以制作狼毫筆聞名。王松偉和師傅們商定，只選用東北最好的狼毫制作筆頭，制筆工藝完全遵照古法，20道大工序，160道小工序，一道不能少。王松偉對毫毛的選用近乎苛刻，稍微彎曲、纖弱或者過硬的狼毫都會被剔除干凈，力爭每一個筆頭都能合乎“尖、齊、圓、健”的最高標準。他深信“慢工出細活”，對師傅們從來沒有數量的要求，只有質量上的嚴格把關。

因此，世匠筆坊的毛筆出產率極低，6個人一天才能做出30多個筆頭，不及其他筆廠一人所出的數量。古法手工做出來的每一支狼毫筆，最后一關必須要經過王松偉的精修和調試才能出售。有一次，本來已經給北京客戶做好的一批筆，王松偉在檢驗時感覺筆頭中間部分稍微健力不足，便決定銷毀，跟客戶解釋后重新修改合同，重做一批。

這種近乎偏執的態度，雖沒讓王松偉得到相應的經濟收益，卻贏得了極佳的口碑，吸引了全國各地書家來訂制毛筆。在王松偉看來，書友的肯定是他前行的最大動力。而今，王松偉最憂心的是萊州制筆業面臨后繼乏人的窘境，這個行業費力又不賺錢，每天都要跟膻臊氣的動物毛打交道，很少有年輕人愿意從事此業，王松偉作坊里最年輕的師傅也已58歲了。

目前，王松偉正與幾位老匠人整理編寫《古法苘麻狼毫筆的制作技法》，打算無償捐獻給國家。咫尺匠心難，對王松偉來說，真正的快樂，是艱辛付出后的那份清心、安慰與喜悅。

Baowang， Laizhou， is located on the northern coast of the Jiaodong Peninsula， Shandong Province. For centuries， there has been an old craft—brush making technique passed down from mouth to mouth for generations. Five years ago， Wang Weisong in his late thirties gave up his annual salary of hundreds of thousands of yuan， and took over a hand-crafted brush workshop in his hometown Laizhou.

In the workshop， in addition to his family members， Wang Weisong employed three senior brush artisans from former Laizhou Brush Making Factory， including his mentor Yu Tongjun. In 1984， Laizhou Brush won the first place at a national brush quality appraisal competition， and Yu Tongjun was one of the core members participating in the competition.（Brush making requires cooperation among several brush workers）. Famous calligraphers Mr. Qi Gong and Mr. Liu Haisu more than once have used brushes which were partially made by Yu Tongjun.

At the age of seventy， Mr. Yu originally intended to live an easy life at home. However， touched by his last student’s spirit of pursuing perfection， he decided to return to work in support of Wang Songwei’s cause. In Wang Songwei’s workshop， only the best-quality weasel hair is used to make brush tips， and the brush making technique completely follows the ancient approach， which requires 20 big procedures and 160 small procedures. Wang Songwei’s selection of hair is rigorous. Slightly bent， fragile or super-hard weasel hair will be eliminated. He strives to make each brush tip meet the highest standard of “sharpness， uniformity， roundness and completeness”. Wang Songwei believes， “Soft fire makes sweet malt.” He raises no quantity requirements for artisans， but strictly controls quality. Such an almost stubborn attitude has not brought corresponding economic gains to Wang Songwei， but won an excellent reputation for him， and attracted calligraphers all over the country to order writing brushes. At present， Wang Songwei and several old artisans are compiling Making Technique of Old Abutilon and Weasel Hair Brushes， planning to donate it to the country.