用刻刀，记写最鲜活的农村变革——《美术里的中国》带您走进版画家古元手中的“乡土中国”

刻刀，划出1942年解放区的农村。怒火，在减租会上势如燎原。画中人无名无姓，却是历史坐标中最鲜活的个体。时代的足印，刻写在画笔无法模仿的刀痕中。1943年，古元创作《减租会》，以笔刀刻写社会现实，描绘了抗日根据地的农民直起腰板儿与地主说理斗争，要求地主减租减息的情形。作为延安木刻的代表作，《减租会》宣告了中国版画史上一种新风格的诞生。

Some 80 years ago, when the transformation of rural China first unfolded, a woodcut artwork recorded this historic moment. Created by Gu Yuan in 1943 in Yan'an, the revolutionary base of the Communist Party of China, "Rent Reducing Rally" stands as a representative work of the "Yan'an Woodcuts School." In this piece, the artist broke new ground by blending European woodcut techniques with China's traditional woodblock prints, ushering in a new artistic style in the country's woodcuts and engravings.

二十世纪三十年代初，文学家鲁迅将西方版画引入中国，以刻刀直面现实，发起新兴木刻运动。因为通俗易懂、方便印刷，版画这一印痕艺术在革命圣地延安迅速风靡，成为启发普罗大众，传播革命思想的有力武器。延安木刻版画也因此成为中国新兴版画发展史上的一座难以逾越的高峰。

In the 1930s, Lu Xun, one of the greatest figures in 20th-century Chinese literature, introduced Western woodcuts to China, and an artistic movement soon emerged embracing the realism of this medium. Easy to read, understand and fabricate, woodcuts gained great popularity in Yan'an, and were widely deployed as an effective instrument to awaken and mobilize the masses. Hence the "Yan'an Woodcuts School" was born, the prolific and creative output of which has never been matched since.

图：著名版画家古元（资料图）

1938年，来自广东的乡村代课教师古元踏上了延安这片土地。宝塔山下，一场“自己动手，丰衣足食”的大生产运动正如火如荼地进行。古元被眼前火热的图景深深打动，理想与信念在这里落地生根。  

在延安的鲁迅艺术文学院，年轻的古元与版画初次相遇。他沉默少语，手上的刻刀却言辞犀利。他认真地学习版画艺术，深入农村进行写生创作。他细致地观察老乡的劳作，揣摩生产生活在人物身上的痕迹，敏锐地捕捉黄土地上万物的神韵。

In 1938, Gu left his job as a rural teacher in south China's Guangdong and arrived in Yan'an in northwest China's Shaanxi. At the foot of the Baota Mountain, a large production campaign was underway to achieve economic self-sufficiency; soldiers and farmers joined forces in the fields to open up new farmlands and cultivate their crops. Inspired by this refreshing sense of freedom, Gu was deeply moved by the sight.

The next year, he began studying at the Lu Xun Academy of Arts, which gave the ambitious 20-year-old his first encounter with woodcuts. From then on, the young man chose to "speak" through his carving knife.

While pursuing his studies of the arts, Gu would often join local farmers and sketch scenes of their daily life. Through his keen observation of their expressions, postures and actions, he captured the essential features of China's rural life. During his stay in Nianzhuang Village, Gu frequently shared his latest works with villagers, and explained to them the meaning of his paintings. Local people liked to post his pictures on their walls, converting their homes into de facto galleries for Gu, like a kind of informal exhibition. While serving the farmers, Gu also learned from their comments and feedback.

图：古元的版画成为村民识字的工具

古元的版画是村民识字的重要工具。他画一头健硕的牛，便在旁边写上一个“牛”字；他绘一只肥美的羊，就在旁边写上一个“羊”字。他把作品送给老乡，乡亲们就把画钉在墙上。日复一日，农民的炕头便成为了古元作品的展厅。

起初，古元的版画并不为延安老乡所认同。当时，中国的木刻创作受到欧洲木刻的影响，讲究光影效果、大明大暗。陕北农民看不懂，也不喜欢这种欧风的木刻，认为画的是“阴阳脸”，脸上“长着毛毛”。

To start with, few of the farmers appreciated Gu's woodcuts. This is because there was a tendency at that time to imitate the European manners in terms of artistic expression, such as deploying the use of bold and sharp forms of contrast. In Yan'an, this approach was rejected by locals, as most people were unfamiliar with the expressionistic rendering of human features.

图：古元作品《羊群》（局部）

老乡家中简洁明快的剪纸和年画让古元惊喜不已。他开始以乡村生活为源头，不断寻求突破。古元决定要让西方版画走向东方，表现手法也逐渐向民族化转变。“炕头展厅”的作品中，欧洲阴刻技法的明暗与阴影陆续消失，取而代之的则是传统单线阳刻风格。

Therefore, Gu began to move in a new direction, drawing inspiration from rural life. Local papercuts and New Year pictures served as new sources to further shore up his artistic vocabulary. As the expressionistic black-and-white contrast gave way to traditional regular linearity, a new Oriental style of modern woodcuts asserted itself.

图：古元作品《结婚登记》（局部）

北方的乡村生活流动着“家”的气息，慰藉着这个南国游子。每天读报时，很多人关注国家大事，古元却对来自乡村的信息尤为敏感。这天，一篇新闻报道引起了他的注意：为建立和巩固抗日民族统一战线，一场改善农民生活、减租减息的运动正在抗日根据地全面展开……古元仿若从这条消息中看到了一场翻天覆地的历史变革，他要用刻刀记写下这充满力量的伟大时刻。

Regarding himself as a community member, Gu closely followed the daily newspapers to stay abreast of the latest rural developments. One day, a brief story caught his eyes: to construct a united front for the war effort and lessen farmers' burden, a land-rent-reduction campaign had been launched across the revolutionary base. At one of these rallies, Gu sensed an earth-shaking transformation that would make history. He was impressed by this empowering endeavor and decided to record the historic moment with his carving knife.

Pinching a strip of willow wood carbon, Gu blocked out the composition on a sheet of coarse paper. In his mind, he saw how the villagers would react if a rent-reducing rally were to be held there. He saw how the landlord would appeal to the heavens and how the courageous villagers would put their feet down and claim their rightful share.

图：创作中的木刻版画《减租会》

古元想象着，如果减租减息斗争发生在自己身边，村民们会作何反应：地主以手指天，赌咒发誓？农民勇敢拍案，主张自己的权利？旁观者犹疑徘徊，窃窃私语？

平刀狂野，三角刀细腻，而古元更偏爱圆浑粗犷的圆刀。在杜梨木上20乘13.5厘米的狭窄空间里,挤满了整整11个人物。下刀的轻、重、缓、急、疏、密，此起彼伏间奏出时代的交响；墨上雕版，轻柔慢拓，画面上呈现的是刻刀划开的黎明。

《减租会》摆脱了早期版画的创作风格。在整体明快的画面上，艺术家以局部的小块黑色作为调节。作品最精彩之处，则是古元对众多人物动作、神态的刻画。这些细节上的巧妙处理顿时赋予了这幅作品极大的灵魂，也让观者体会到了身临其境的现场感。

Gu chose a rounded blade for this image. On a piece of pear wood board measuring 20 centimeters by 13.5cm, he had to be as precise as a surgeon in arranging the 11 figures. The lines were all clean and elegant, following the style of traditional woodblock prints. Meanwhile, the density and strength of the cuts echoed the unfolding changes of the times.

The paper lifted from the carved surface presented an image of a new epoch. The figures in the picture may have no names, but they are all based on real people. The feeling of the times is indelibly imprinted in these carved lines.

图：古元作品《减租会》

古元说过：“我的艺术追求就是把我经历的这个时代，以美的形式，给人们留下一点记录。”

文变染乎世情，伟大的艺术家总能抓住时代的神韵。80年前，古元在泥土中感受来自人民的力量，刻刀化为史笔，记录下中国乡村的巨大变迁。历史的步伐早已从减租减息迈向乡村振兴，但艺术里的乡土中国，却永远记录下了改变开始的地方。

Great art is a mirror of its times, and a great artist will always try to capture the spirit of the times. Scores of decades ago, Gu, who once described his artistic goal as being "to record and represent the beauty of contemporary experience for future generations," felt the strength of the people and recorded the immense transformation of rural China. Nowadays, those rallies to reduce rent have been replaced by rural vitalization. But this artistic embodiment of rural China serves as an enduring monument marking the origin of all those changes that were about to sweep the nation.

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