5年“克隆”一座古戲臺(tái)

文/ 鄭夢(mèng)瑩

葛招龍正在創(chuàng)作作品《人生·戲臺(tái)》。Ge Zhaolong works on the carving work Life · Stage.

木結(jié)構(gòu)的老宅子，門(mén)口青石板鋪地。寧?？h岔路鎮(zhèn)湖頭村的這處宅院中，有一座以寧海傳統(tǒng)戲臺(tái)建造技藝純手工打造的精美戲臺(tái)。

院子的主人、53歲的寧波市非物質(zhì)文化遺產(chǎn)寧海傳統(tǒng)戲臺(tái)建造技藝代表性傳承人葛招龍，正是憑借這座戲臺(tái)，不久前從全國(guó)眾多民間工藝美術(shù)作品中脫穎而出，摘得第十五屆“中國(guó)民間文藝山花獎(jiǎng)”。

葛招龍是名副其實(shí)的古建筑守護(hù)人。這些年來(lái)，他先后在寧海及周邊縣市主持修繕了20多座古戲臺(tái)。葛招龍說(shuō)：“好多年前，我就想在自家造個(gè)古戲臺(tái)，這個(gè)愿望如今終于實(shí)現(xiàn)了。”戲臺(tái)建造完工后，葛招龍為這件作品起了個(gè)名字—《人生 · 戲臺(tái)》。

沒(méi)用一顆釘子 以9000余個(gè)木構(gòu)件組裝完成

見(jiàn)到葛招龍時(shí)，他幾乎是整個(gè)人趴在一塊木料上，手眼并用，正為一塊雕花板劃出一個(gè)圓潤(rùn)的花骨朵。

木匠做雕花，眼睛就是把尺子，得目不轉(zhuǎn)睛地盯著手頭的木料，恰到好處的手勁也少不了。“這可是個(gè)細(xì)致活！”刻刀劃到底，葛招龍的雙手松了下來(lái)，轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)頭來(lái)對(duì)記者說(shuō)。

《人生 · 戲臺(tái)》正是在這樣一刀一刀的精雕細(xì)琢中成型—這是一座飛檐翹角、雕梁畫(huà)棟的木制仿古戲臺(tái)，形制為四翹角歇山式，外形高6.6米，長(zhǎng)、寬各5.3米，臺(tái)面離地0.6米，大小是常見(jiàn)戲臺(tái)的一半，可觀賞，也可用于演出。

對(duì)于它，有的讀者或許并不陌生。2021年8月，第五屆浙江工藝美術(shù)雙年展在浙江展覽館舉辦，222件作品上演了一場(chǎng)浙江民間藝術(shù)“寶藏秀”?！度松?· 戲臺(tái)》就在其中。

《人生 · 戲臺(tái)》是參評(píng)本屆“山花獎(jiǎng)”作品中體量最大的一件，要把它搬到參評(píng)現(xiàn)場(chǎng)，須用集裝箱運(yùn)載?！爱?dāng)時(shí)，我們10多個(gè)專(zhuān)業(yè)工匠花了五六天時(shí)間跟班拆卸、拼裝?！备鹫旋埢貞浀馈?/p>

如今，這件龐然大物在外“游歷”幾番后，又回到了葛招龍的老宅中。站在戲臺(tái)的臺(tái)階上，他向記者講述著戲臺(tái)背后的故事。

“看，這就是藻井，是整件作品中制作最難的部分?！表樦氖疽?，記者抬頭向上，看到戲臺(tái)的螺旋藻井如花朵層層綻放。這自右向左盤(pán)旋而上的造型，由16層木質(zhì)構(gòu)件層層堆疊而成，一層一層盤(pán)成喇叭狀。

令人驚嘆的是，這件精美絕倫的作品由9000余個(gè)木構(gòu)件組成，卻沒(méi)用一顆釘子?！斑@些都是用榫卯結(jié)構(gòu)對(duì)接交疊出來(lái)的?！备鹫旋堈f(shuō)，“要嚴(yán)絲合縫，不然拼不起來(lái)”。

此外，戲臺(tái)制作中使用了浮雕、圓雕、透雕等雕刻手法?！斑x料也很有講究，使用了香樟木、烏楮木、老柏木等，都是有些年份的木材?！备鹫旋堈f(shuō)。

從小就很向往 戲臺(tái)是“神圣的地方”

寧海被稱(chēng)為“中國(guó)古戲臺(tái)文化之鄉(xiāng)”。明清以來(lái)，在寧海建的廟宇、祠堂都有戲臺(tái)。當(dāng)?shù)厝缃瘳F(xiàn)存的古戲臺(tái)有120余座，其中10座是國(guó)家重點(diǎn)文物保護(hù)單位?！度松?·戲臺(tái)》的原型，就是全國(guó)重點(diǎn)文物保護(hù)單位之一—寧?？h城隍廟古戲臺(tái)。

對(duì)這座古戲臺(tái)，葛招龍?jiān)偈煜げ贿^(guò)。2017年一年中，他就往這里跑了20多趟，就像小時(shí)候看戲那樣端詳著戲臺(tái)，每次一待就要大半天?！皠e看這些木頭塊塊似乎普通，這可是寧海戲臺(tái)文化的靈魂?！?/p>

愛(ài)上戲臺(tái)文化時(shí)，葛招龍還是個(gè)孩子。他常跟長(zhǎng)輩去村里的古戲臺(tái)看戲，在戲臺(tái)前蹲著坐著、聽(tīng)著敲鑼打鼓聲就長(zhǎng)大了，“對(duì)我來(lái)說(shuō)，戲臺(tái)是個(gè)神圣的地方，從小就很向往”。葛招龍說(shuō)，他因此一直想在家中建一座仿古戲臺(tái)。

理想很豐滿(mǎn)，現(xiàn)實(shí)很“骨感”。仿造古戲臺(tái)，費(fèi)力費(fèi)時(shí)又費(fèi)錢(qián)，談何容易！葛招龍?jiān)谛睦镒聊チ嗽S久。首先就面臨一個(gè)很現(xiàn)實(shí)的問(wèn)題，費(fèi)用太多。這些年，他雖然攢了點(diǎn)錢(qián)，但還不足以承擔(dān)這筆費(fèi)用?！澳愀墒裁?，錢(qián)多了？”最開(kāi)始，妻子就提出了質(zhì)疑。

不過(guò)，隨著心中的念想越來(lái)越強(qiáng)烈，葛招龍最終還是沒(méi)忍住與志同道合的朋友念叨念叨，“賠錢(qián)也想干”。想不到葛招龍一說(shuō)，朋友們紛紛響應(yīng)。箭在弦上不得不發(fā)，他帶著幾個(gè)工匠，一咬牙就干了起來(lái)。

從采風(fēng)到設(shè)計(jì)，從構(gòu)件制作到整體搭建，再到改進(jìn)、完善，這個(gè)純手工打造的“古戲臺(tái)”前前后后花費(fèi)近4000個(gè)工時(shí)?！皥D紙就畫(huà)了一年，找尋合適的雕刻構(gòu)件用了兩年多時(shí)間。這些都準(zhǔn)備好后，我們就在這個(gè)院子中開(kāi)工搭臺(tái)。搭了拆、拆了搭，反反復(fù)復(fù)，足足又花費(fèi)一年才完工。前前后后，總共用了5年時(shí)間?！备鹫旋埰杆愕?。

“畫(huà)一張圖紙就要這么久？”面對(duì)記者的疑惑，葛招龍耐心地解答起來(lái)：修復(fù)古戲臺(tái)時(shí)，可以一層一層地把構(gòu)件拆下來(lái)，把損壞的部分挑出來(lái)進(jìn)行修補(bǔ)或替換，再按原樣一個(gè)一個(gè)拼裝回去。但“克隆”一座比例縮小一半的古戲臺(tái)，還要融寧海古戲臺(tái)之長(zhǎng)，沒(méi)有現(xiàn)成的資料可參考，相當(dāng)于從“白紙一張”開(kāi)始畫(huà)。

《人生·戲臺(tái)》。Life · Stage.

《人生·戲臺(tái)》局部。Life · Stage (partial).

葛招龍與工友正在創(chuàng)作作品《人生·戲臺(tái)》。Ge Zhaolong and his colleagues work on the carving work Life · Stage.

為此，葛招龍只能一趟一趟跑，一來(lái)到古戲臺(tái)前，就坐下來(lái)細(xì)細(xì)琢磨祖輩口口相傳的技藝口訣，并結(jié)合多年修復(fù)古戲臺(tái)的實(shí)踐經(jīng)驗(yàn)，在薄木板上按比例描摹、切割出戲臺(tái)的每一個(gè)部件。打樣后，才能一個(gè)一個(gè)拼接起來(lái)看效果，不行就推倒重來(lái)，一改再改。

修復(fù)古建筑 10多年來(lái)需求漸旺

“最近還有項(xiàng)目正在做嗎？”記者問(wèn)?！绊?xiàng)目怎么能沒(méi)有呢，一直有的。”葛招龍說(shuō)。

葛招龍的確很忙，結(jié)束《人生 · 戲臺(tái)》這個(gè)大工程后，他一直沒(méi)停歇，最近又開(kāi)始忙于修復(fù)敦義堂，有時(shí)候甚至來(lái)不及看手機(jī)回復(fù)消息。敦義堂位于寧海縣西店鎮(zhèn)嶺口村，是典型的清代早期浙東地區(qū)宗祠建筑，占地面積約1200多平方米，其部分木質(zhì)建筑構(gòu)件已存在不同程度的變質(zhì)、糟朽。

葛招龍18歲拜師學(xué)藝，曾靠著一手精湛的木作技藝走南闖北。后來(lái)行業(yè)式微，他一度放下手中的工具箱，做起了小生意。不過(guò)，兜兜轉(zhuǎn)轉(zhuǎn)，這門(mén)手藝在鄉(xiāng)村振興的大背景下又有了用武之地。

2011年，葛招龍發(fā)現(xiàn)古建筑修復(fù)需求越來(lái)越多，于是喊上四里八鄉(xiāng)的能工巧匠，組建了一支古建筑修復(fù)隊(duì)，開(kāi)始承接各種各樣的古建筑修復(fù)項(xiàng)目。從2014年起至今，他們已經(jīng)修復(fù)古建筑160余處。

對(duì)于老物件，葛招龍有著天然的情結(jié)。在別人眼里一條普普通通甚至是破敗的老街，在他看來(lái)卻樣樣是寶，一個(gè)屋檐、一塊木雕、一片瓦當(dāng)，他都要用手機(jī)拍下來(lái)。在他的手機(jī)相冊(cè)中，古建筑修復(fù)工地和這些老物件的圖片最多。

“大家對(duì)古建筑的保護(hù)越來(lái)越重視了。這些老祖宗的‘遺產(chǎn)’，讓我心存敬畏，我一定要守護(hù)好?！备鹫旋堈f(shuō)。

How to “Clone” an Ancient Opera Stage?

By Zheng Mengying

A wooden structured old house, with dark flagstones paved in front of the gate. Inside it, located at Hutou village, Chalu township, Ninghai county of Ningbo city, there lies an exquisite opera stage hand-carved using the traditional Ninghai opera stage building craft.

The owner of the house, 53-year-old Ge Zhaolong, is a representative inheritor of the crafting technique of ancient opera stages, which has been listed as Ningbo’s intangible cultural heritage. It is thanks to opera stage that Ge recently won the 15th Shanhua Award, the highest folk-art honor in China.

Ge is a veritable keeper of ancient buildings. Over the years,he has been in charge of repairing more than 20 ancient opera stages in Ninghai and in the surrounding counties and cities. “I have long wanted to build an ancient stage in our house, and my wish has finally come true,” said Ge. For the award-winning work,Ge named it “Life · Stage”.

Right now, Ge is finishing another piece of work, with him almost lying on his stomach on a piece of wood carving out a round flower bud for a carved board. For a woodcarver like Ge, his eyes are like the ruler, as he must have them constantly fixated on the wood pieces at hand.

“It is a most delicate job!” Ge chuckled.

has been created through such meticulous carving.It is a richly ornamented wooden antique stage with flying rafters.Adopting aor hip-and-gable roof style, the stage measures 6.6 meters in height and 5.3 meters in length and width. With a stage height of 0.6 meters, it is about half the size of a regular stage, and can be both a work of art to be admired and an actual stage to be used.

As the biggest piece of work to compete for the Shanhua Award in 2022,needed to be put into a container before it was moved to the place where all the entries were evaluated and judged. “At that time, more than 10 professional craftsmen spent five to six days disassembling and assembling the stage,” Ge recalled.

Now standing on the steps of the stage inside his house, Ge began to tell the story behind it.

“Look, this is the caisson, the most intricate part of the whole piece,” said Ge. Spiraling from right to left, 16 layers of wooden components stack on top of each other, each layer coiled in the shape of a trumpet.

What is most amazing is that not a single nail or screw is used for the stage, which is made up of more than 9,000 wooden pieces.“They have been connected via the traditional mortise and tenon structure,” said Ge. “Therefore, each piece needs to be carefully calibrated, or else they wouldn’t fit together.”

In addition, different carving techniques such as relief, round carving, pierced carving. “Some of the best raw materials have been selected, including camphor wood, mulberry wood and cedarwood,” according to Ge.

Known as the hometown of Chinese ancient opera stage culture, Ninghai county is home to over 120 ancient opera stages,10 of which are listed as national key cultural relic protection units and have been around since the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). The inspiration foris the Chenghuang (City God) Temple operat stage in the county.

Ge couldn’t be more familiar with the stage. In 2017, he made more than 20 trips, spending half a day every time examining the stage as he did during childhood. “Although these pieces of wood seem ordinary, they are the soul of Ninghai’s opera stage culture.”

Ge fell in love with the stage culture when he was a small child. He often went to the ancient stage of his village to watch opera performances with his elders. He grew up squatting and sitting in front of the stage, listening to the beating of gongs and drums. “For me, the stage is a sacred place,” Ge said. Indeed, he had long hoped to build an antique stage in his home.

But the realities can be harsh. To build an ancient stage is no easy task at all, which is laborious, time-consuming and costly. Ge had thought about it for a long time. To begin with, where could he find all the money? Although he had some savings over the years, they were far from enough to cover the costs. “What are you doing? Have too much money to burn?” Ge’s wife raised doubts even before he started out.

圖為葛招龍正在創(chuàng)作作品《人生·戲臺(tái)》。Ge Zhaolong works on the carving work Life · Stage.

However, as the desire grew stronger in his mind, eventually Ge couldn’t resist telling like-minded friends that he would like to work on it even if he lost money. Unexpectedly, his friends responded readily to his call.These craftsmen set to work at once with him.

From field trips to design,then from component production to overall construction, and to further improvement and perfection, nearly 4,000 hours have been spent on this handmade ancient stage. “The drawings took a year and the carving more than two years,” Ge said. “When all were ready, we set to work in the courtyard, building before tearing everything down, over and over again, which took another year.”

When restoring an ancient stage, the components can be removed layer by layer, the damaged parts can be picked out for repair or replacement, and then put back together one by one.However, to “clone” an ancient stage with half the size is no simple matter, as there is no readily available information for reference,which is equivalent to starting from scratch.

Hence Ge’s multiple trips to the Chenghuang Temple ancient stage. Every time when he came to it, he would sit down,carefully remunerating the craft handed down to him orally over the generations through pithy formulas. Combining his years of practical experience in repairing ancient stages, he would paint and cut out each part of the stage in proportion on a thin wooden board. Each component would then be made and connected. If it didn’t work, Ge would have to redraw, recalibrate and remake each part, time and again.

Lately Ge is quite busy. He has been working on the restoration of an ancestral hall in a nearby village after completing—sometimes he doesn’t even have time to check his phone to reply to messages.

In 2011, Ge found that there was a growing demand for the restoration of ancient buildings, so he called on skilled craftsmen in neighboring towns and villages, organized them into a team specializing in restoring ancient architecture and began to undertake various projects. Since 2014, they have restored more than 160 ancient buildings.

Ge has a natural affection for old objects.An ordinary or even dilapidated old street would be treasures in his eyes. He would take photos of eaves, pieces of wood carving and tiles. In his cellphone photo album are all those restoration sites and “old” objects.

“People are paying more and more attention to the protection of ancient buildings,” Ge said. “I’m simply awed by these heritages passed down from our ancestors, and I will everything I can to protect them.”