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中国的家文化和余春明的画
文：刘禹
中国有着和美国一样大的领土、却居住着五十六个民族。这些民族由于各自的文化习俗各不相同，如信奉伊斯兰教的新疆维吾尔族，和藏传佛教的藏族以及有着自己语言文字的纳西族、历史悠久的苗族、侗族等等。再加上各族的地理气候环境又差异很大，所以他们的居住建筑都各不相同。就以占各民族百分之九＋二人口的汉族来说，其居住建筑的形式就多达数十种。全中国典型的不同形式的建筑共有三＋几种之多。这些建筑都是不同的人文文化和生态文化的产物。
China, having the same land area as America, inhabits fifty-six distinctive ethnic groups. Each of these groups have their own cultures and traditions: the Uighur of Xinjiang follow Muslim disciplines, the Tibetans worship Tibetan Buddhism, the Nakhi developed their own script, and the ancient tribes of Miao and Dong have their own traditions to abide by. These ethnic groups helped develop a diversity of architectural styles. For instance, the Han people, accounting for 92% of Chinese population, have almost 100 distinctive residential building styles. There are more than thirty kinds of representative styles all over China. These architectural styles are the products of the diversity of cultures and environmental conditions.
中国是家文化的国家，美国人也很重视家庭，可是中国的家是在一块土地上，几百年乃至上千年延续着一个大家族。是一个村庄，大部分家族一二百年来都没有离开过，一直在这块土地上繁衍后代。在中国的传统社会里，一个农民一生最大的理想， 是为子孙，而不是为他自己，建造一幢房子。房子是祖先留下的。上面有很多祖先的教导、规矩。记载了祖先的荣耀，有很多雕刻历史故事的门、窗，教导家人做人的道理。连房子的结构也是按照礼仪等级来建造的。传统的中国人为家族而活着。中国古代人物画得不到重视。而许多著名的古代画家都画他们的住房和街道。因为中国的房子承载着中国的传统文化。
Just like Americans, Chinese culture values family above all things. But because of historical reasons, the same piece of land has nurtured generations of one family for hundreds even thousands of years. Families that never left their homeland developed into villages. In traditional societies, the lifetime dream of a peasant is to own a house, not for themselves, but for the next generation to live in. Since the families stay on the same plot of land for hundreds of years, houses are passed from generation to generation. In each house, there are sayings and family rules left by their ancestors; it contains records of all the fame and success of the family. Hand-carved doors and windows tell stories of how to live life. Even the structure of the house is designed according to the traditional hierarchy of the family members. Because Chinese people place more emphasis on family as opposed to themselves, most traditional Chinese painters paint houses and streets, which carry the essence of Chinese culture within them.
由于中国的居住建筑有着深厚的文化底蕴和丰富多彩的造型。所以。千百年来成为许多画家表现的对象。如著名的《清明上河图》就是画一条宋代的城市街道。中国没有西方的人文文化的背景，他们的人物画始终是一个弱点，技法上也是用花鸟、山水画笔法。因此。在现今的中国有一批画家以民居为对象来画画，由于中国江南水乡较灵秀优美。所以己故旅美画家陈逸飞就以纯写实的手法画了一批江南水乡的油画。被纽约的哈默画廊于八十年代推出。早年留学法国的中国画家吴冠中目前以高昂的画价称雄于东方艺术各拍卖行，他仍是以江南水乡为对象，用中国画的笔墨来表现线条和墨韵的美。在许多画家争相捕捉江南“小桥流水人家”的古典意象来抒情时，如今居住在美国北加州圣荷西的余春明，却是深入到中国民居的各个角落和中国居住文化的深层。他的民居画，有着吴冠中和陈逸飞共同的内核：抒情性的怀旧。他的调子刚好在吴冠中的轻淡和陈逸飞的浓郁之间，不温不火，不浓也不淡，是一种如同《诗经》世代孔子所赞叹的“哀而不伤”的境地。余春明的民居画的深度和广度是有别于吴冠中和陈逸飞的。吴冠中最用心的是江南的山村和水乡。而陈逸飞反复画的，只是周庄。余春明却把视角和笔触伸向中国所有的乡间和所有的民族。他是凝重的，很少有简淡和轻快。他是深沉的，是沉浸的，很少有隔岸旁观的间距。
Because the richness of Chinese culture has precipitated in the form of residential architects, folk houses have become a popular subject that many traditional artists try to express. Such love for folk houses has drawn the attention of many contemporary Chinese painters. Since the water village in Jiangnan (south of Yangtze River) is famous for its exquisite beauty, Chen Yifei, the famous Chinese-American painter, painted a series of water villages in Jiangnan using realistic techniques. The series was promoted by the Hammer Galleries in New York in the 80s. Wu Guanzhong, dominating in eastern auction companies with soaring prices, also expressed the beauty of water villages in Jiangnan by the use of lines and rhyme of the traditional Chinese painting. While many artists are struggling to catch Jiangnans “home by the bridge over the flowing stream” and use classical images to express their feelings, Yu Chunming has explored each and every corner of Chinese folk houses and has penetrated into the depth of the Chinese culture. Although there exists the same core in the subject of Yu Chunming, Wu Guanzhong and Chen Yifei’s paintings, Yu’s paintings have a more imposing and earthly feature that is rooted deeply in thousand-years of history. While Yu Chunming tunes his paintings in between Wu’s mildness and Chen’s richness, he did not restrain himself in the Jiangnan region like Wu Guanzhong and Chen Yifei did, but extended his painting brush to all the ethnic groups and regions of China.
余春明1955年生于中国江西。1978年考入中国美术学院，从1983年到1995年间，他几乎每年都探访中国各省的古老乡村和城镇，其间画了3000余幅速写和几百张水彩油画、漆画。在这段时间里，他用中国画的线条和水墨韵味及西方油画的技巧，表现中国古老的居住观念和丰富的民居造型以及他的人生体验。有的画有些抽象意味。有的画像写实却不是实景，而是一种观念的写照，如表现中国家族希望后代繁衍发达的观念的《月之韵》就是以皖南一带徽式民居为对像。表现侗族的《鼓楼的传说》，以鼓楼代表家族的中心来表达侗族人强烈的家族凝聚力。有些画表达现实与传统的距离、冲突。如《尘封的记忆》和《圆堡的故事》《红岩的述说》等，就是表现如今中国计划生育与传统的多子多孙观念的矛盾。而表现婚姻观念的《桃花坞》显得＋分的和美；表达农村冬季的《冬闲 》又异常寂静……他的绘画形式与内容结合的非常之好，画面总有一种宁静、梦幻的感觉。
Yu Chunming was born in Jiangxi, China, 1955. In 1978, he entered the renowned China Academy of Art. From 1983 to 1995, Yu traveled all over China to visit ancient villages and cities and produced more than three thousand pieces of colored sketches and hundreds of watercolor, oil painting and lacquer painting. During that time, he used line techniques and the implicit beauty of traditional Chinese painting, combined with western oil painting styles and his own life experiences to portray the ancient way of life and the richness of folk house styles. Some of Yu’s paintings have surrealistic elements while others seem realistic but actually do not exist. They are reflective of his ideas. For example, the tradition of Chinese families wishing their descendants to continue the bloodline and reap success in the future was embedded in “Rhyme of Moon”, modeled with architectural styles from the southern Anhui area. The “Drum Tower’s Tale” uses a drum tower to show the strong family bond of the Dong people. Paintings such as “Sealed Memory”, “Tale of the Round Castle” and “Red Rock Mountain’s Tale” express the conflicts between reality and tradition, informing us that the custom of procuring many children is no longer realistic. The meaning of marriage in《桃花坞》 portrays an impression of harmony while the portrait of winter in the countryside modeled by《冬闲》 appears very subtle and quiet. His art forms fuse perfectly with the contents, evoking a dream-like feeling in each painting.
当今的中国，高速发展的城市扩建，使几百年来见证中国历史和民俗的古老民居在快速的消失。余春明画民居的近二＋年，正是中国加速现代化的时期，古老古民居也加速消亡，许多当年他画过的地方，现在己面目全非，如绍兴古城，早己没有水乡风味。苏州也只有一小块区域保留了下来。在湘。黔边界一带侗家也不见了侗民歌舞。就是被保护的民居点，如上海的周庄。也不是以前的原貌，如这幅梯云桥的水彩画里面的那棵树，如今就没有了（如图）。北京的胡同破坏的更严重，连许多四合院也被拆毁，变成商厦和现代住宅。看看今后北京城的规划，庞大的故宫紫禁城在新的北京市规划图上就像玩具一样。原北京的胡同基本将全被拆光了，正如中国《新京报》说余春明的画：为这个时代留下了一份珍贵的记录，是画里的民居博物馆。硅谷亚洲艺术中心（Silicon Valley Asian Art Center）馆长舒建华说：“迄今为止，在人居关系的把握上，还没有那位中国画家达到余春明的深广度。经过20多年的执着探索，质朴和技巧、写实和写意，融合无间。在有着四千年农耕文明传统的乡土中国、全面走向城市化和市场化的21世纪，连天安门附近的许多老四合院都面临“其命维新”的时代，余春明的作品必将有着“史诗”般的价值。”
China, now thriving with high speed development of city extensions, vastly reduces the number of ancient folk houses. During Yu’s twenty years of folk house paintings, these ancient treasures disappear after witnessing hundreds of years of Chinese history. Many places where Yu Chunming had once visited no longer exist. For instance, the old town of Shaoxing had long since disappeared and Suzhou only managed to retain a small region of folk houses. The rate at which these folk houses disappear affects old traditions, where in Hunan and Guizhou, the Dong folk dance can no longer be found. Even protected folk house regions, such as Zhouzhuang, Shanghai, cannot stay unharmed. The destruction of Beijing’s alleys is considered most serious; even Siheyuan are being turned into office buildings and apartment complexes. This is why the “Beijing News” described Yu Chunming’s work as a legacy of precious records during this era. His paintings are regarded as a museum for traditional folk houses. As many of China’s traditions and ancient architectural styles die out, Yu Chunming’s work will continue to be valued as historical masterpieces.
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