Chapter 3 The Secret Path in the Second Art Garden

——Tang Shijie cited in the novel "Carving the World" 1 I really like those small towns in southern Yunnan: they are as numerous as beads and as small as jade carvings.The well of Jianshui, the tin of Gejiu, the lake of Mengzi, and the seaweed cavity of Shiping.Although Tonghai by the Qilu Lake at the foot of Xiushan Mountain is not entirely in southern Yunnan, it still has the charm of a small town in southern Yunnan—it looks like a garden, eight-point deep and cage-like, simple and quiet, with a few wisps of fragrance blooming from a century of elegance.What's more, the quiet streets and alleys can't tell the north and the south, and the warm seasons don't distinguish between spring and summer; the dialect is as clear and graceful as a song, regardless of gender; Confused, it makes people feel like they have broken into a kaleidoscope, and they are so busy that they can't close their eyes even if they want to.On both sides of the streets and alleys, the residential houses seem inconspicuous, but they are nothing more than powdery walls and green eaves and tiles. When you go deep, there are some amazing places. The clump of gardenias swaying outside the wall, even though you can’t reach it with your hands, the dark fragrance has already filled your sleeves; the wooden lattice door with dragons and phoenixes in the hall makes people want to pass through the art gate and wear a suit. Peerless travel and dust, fill the eyes with the vicissitudes of history.When the lights were dimmed, I met relatives and friends and casually slipped into the depths of the alley, sat down in front of the barbecue stall, and asked for a few snacks under the dim butter lamp in the dark night. The spiciness of smoked fire makes people feel comfortable.Such a small town is close to the mountains and close to the water.Although all the mountains come rushing from the northwest of Yunnan, they have lost their majestic momentum here. They are like decorations in the garden, low and dense, exquisite and clear; Eye-catching rice fields meander, and the four wild sisal plants are gray and green with bougainvillea and red; if you go further outside, there is probably a lake that is as clear as a mirror, reflecting the small towns beautifully.It is expected that the days in the small town are both quiet and warm, but also crowded and lively - thoroughly mundane, more elegant and transparent.It would be a mistake to think that such a small town is nothing more than a dialect ditty, sisal bougainvillea, etc. It also grows myths, witchcraft, beauties, strange people, magical legends-everything is like a big net, and you can pick up a strand of thread casually, and you can grow melons and melons. A large area is formed in the area, and the network covers the whole world.No wonder Ai Wu was wandering alone, and Ma Zihua rode by on the horse. When he came back, he had "Journey to the South" and "Scattered Notes of Southern Dian". It’s all gone, and my envy almost turned into jealousy—for example, Yang Yang, who lived in a bungalow in Tonghai Confucian Temple for many years, and was full of elegance and elegance.

The weather in Tonghai was sunny that day, the wind was soft and the clouds were soft. Along a rural road, Yang Yang said that he would take me to see a village near Tonghai.I have seen a lot of villages in Yunnan, and I am familiar with the layout. Unexpectedly, this village is not the other village: close to the roadside, a row of two-foot-high stone walls are mossy, and the doors are just a few dark holes.Get in, follow Yang Yang along a dark alley, go deeper and deeper, go straight in a thrilling way, and stumble into an ancient legend in a daze: the streets and alleys are lost in a blink of an eye, and no one can be identified. At the end, there was no way to go, and in a blink of an eye, I fell into another house.Could it be that there is a passage unknown to outsiders between the seemingly dense and independent cottages?The window of the front house is next to the kitchen of the back house, and from this main house is the backyard of that house—there are few architectural stereotypes in between.Just like that, I went all the way, through the living rooms, bedrooms, kitchens, yards, gardens, stables, and cattle pens of one family after another, until I didn't know where I was.No matter which old house, how many rooms you enter, in a certain humble room, or by the hearth or under the stairs, there must be a secret passage leading directly to the courtyard of another old house—strange!My heart beats like a drum at the thought that I was intruding into a secret history.Groping, searching, amazed, nervous, excited... When the world unfolds in front of your eyes with this astonishingly profound melody, it would be strange not to be immersed in the ignorance of history and life.Then we know that the world is far more than the appearance it shows, and there is a soul hidden deep inside.Line after line.When my eyes lighted up and I stood still under the blue sky, I was dizzy and sighed.Looking back, the house that I first entered was far away, and I was already on the other side of the village.There is really a secret path among the cottages that are connected front and back.It is said that hundreds of century-old houses in the whole village are connected in series by this dark, long and low passage.What is the reason for that village to have such a secret passage?It is said that there were many bandits in the area in the early years, and every family was close to each other. If a family had something to do, you only need to sneak into a house at random, and you can avoid disasters with the help of that secret path—that is simply the soul of that village.I thought to myself, the person who walked through that path with imagination for the first time must be a genius.So amazing.When asked, the village has been built for hundreds of years, and its name is Xingyi.

A few years later, when I went to Tonghai, Yang Yang took me to Xingyi Village again—I thought he might have forgotten that he had already taken me there.Still passing through that doorway, still walking along that alley, it suddenly opened up in a blink of an eye, instead of the blue sky and flowers and plants, it was a piece of ruined walls.The cottage in my memory had obviously just been demolished.So I lamented that the village not only lost its limbs, but also lost its soul.Yang Yangdao: Fortunately, these years, I have taken photos of all here. In the future, if someone wants to see this village, he can only go to my place to see it—that is to comfort me and himself, but he also reveals it in desperation. Out of a bit of luck.

2 Yang Yang, who is obsessed with life at the bottom and pursuing history, took photos of Xingyi Village with the help of a digital camera, but it was a piece of cake.It’s not easy to preserve other things, even digital ones can’t do anything about it, it depends on words, relying on a traditional and poetic pen: Ruuodao’s previous "Little Feet Dance" is no different from a song that sings the fate of women in the old days Now this "Carving the World" is a swan song composed for an art saint's mental journey. Reading "Carving the World" is just like wandering in a small town in southern Yunnan, with centuries-old landscapes and all-round customs blowing in your face, like a garden with exotic trees and flowers, thick shade and delicate fragrance, which makes people intoxicated.Taking a closer look at this art garden built with words, you can vaguely see a secret path winding through it, allowing people to not only walk through the historical style along the way, but also taste the charm beyond the landscape.When writing "The Diao Tian Xia", did Yang Yang think of the secret path in Xingyi Village?Hard to say.However, an excellent work of art, no matter in reason or emotion, should be an art garden.Regardless of whether the garden is built from the joys and sorrows of individuals or the rise and fall of a nation, they are all materials used to build the palace of art; the soul and spirit of the building depend on people's painstaking efforts.Southern Yunnan, located in the south of the Central Plains, north of the Indochina Peninsula, and east of South Asia, was originally a land with rich history and strong temperament.At the beginning of the last century, before the fashion became popular, some people traveled to barbarians, opened tin mines, some people built railways, and set up customs. Ancient and modern Chinese and foreign cultures collided violently, and live dramas with strange plots were staged in turn, full of mystery and variables: tragic plague, Nuo opera Quaint and gloomy in the mines, the engraving is long and arduous... The black, black, red and red backgrounds have become the stage to show the complex character of the woodcarving master Gao Shimei one by one.Among the seemingly unrelated "building units" in the book, there must be a secret path like Xingyi Village.So even though I plunged into it, my heart was full of that kind of blurred pleasure and surprise when I read it, but I was a little surprised that I couldn't find the writer's good intentions in the chaos and chaos at first glance.I just thought, can I really find the spirit and soul pervading that garden, and find the secret path winding in the art garden?

4 Craftsmen have been envied since ancient times.The history of human civilization is a history of economy and thought, as well as a history of technology and technology. Every time society moves forward, it cannot do without the progress of technology.The greatest scientific inventions depend on craftsmen to realize them.Although China is known as a country of poetry, propriety and righteousness, besides Confucius and Mencius, there are also Luban and Huatuo among the saints.Ordinary people like me have never been a craftsman or master since childhood, but are familiar with craftsmen who play cotton, make sugar figurines, pancakes, and mend shoes.The big bow of the cotton player can be played into a dance, and the rolling pin of the sesame seed maker can also make music.From now on, I know that I can only read and stay away from the world. I will be nothing more than a bookworm in the future, and I will be stupid if I don’t stay.Scholars can serve the country with blood and sweat, and craftsmen can also pass on their unique skills and skills. It is difficult to distinguish between the two.However, Chinese people have been contemptuous of craftsmen for a long time. They first advocated "studying hard", the promises of "golden house" and "Yan Ruyu" are as insidious as arsenic wrapped in gold and jade; People are entangled with books all their lives, they can't get out after entering, and they miss the common people's lives.There are many people chasing fame, profit, business, officials, and sex. They all want to play "karate". Who wants to be a craftsman who relies on his ability to make a living?In fact, not only reading the books of sages can nourish your education, but also being unrestrained in the rivers and lakes, and a big bowl of wine and meat can also soak up the soul.Germany's industry, science and technology, and culture are not underdeveloped, but up to now, craftsmen are preferred over academic qualifications.According to reports, the owner of the famous tourist island of Mainau is the uncle of the current king of Sweden. He gave up the throne and married a commoner woman. He passed away at the age of 90, leaving behind a large fortune, which was handed over to his 30-year-old daughter. Although this woman has the title of earl, she is a master who is obsessed with hat making skills, and her husband, who was born in a German nobleman, is not much better, just a "craftsman" who tends flowers and plants.

It is interesting to think about exploring the inner world of craftsmen in a literary way.Yang Yang said that "Carving the World" is a "spiritual and mysterious history" of a rural carpenter, which is by no means an exaggeration: "A work of art is the essence of the world, or the epitome of the world", "A work of art can often clarify the secrets of human nature" ([美国] Emerson).A great craftsman can be called a master of art. He is both created and constrained by the times. It may be more difficult to achieve a great cause than a scholar or a doctor.Gao Shimei in Yang Yang's works has acted in Nuo opera, worked as a monk, worked as a porter, went down the mine, wandered the streets, and indulged in the cigarette couch, but his woodcarvings are never forgotten.This persistence alone puts many people who consider themselves elegant to shame.In this way, the wooden lattice door carved by Gao Shimei spent half his life not only revealing his superb woodcarving skills, but also the relationship between his personal destiny and the times and society implied by his life experience: whether the times are rich or poor, It is difficult to convert art into literature.Not only the contempt of society, the artist also has to fight with himself.An artist is also a human being, with ordinary people’s joys, sorrows, sorrows, and joys. The difference lies in the tenacity he strives for day after day on a wooden board, a picture case, and a desk; Carving knives, a heart full of pity, a few draft papers, a paintbrush, and a few tubes of oil paint, the fight and contest with the behemoth of society is so tragic, money, fame, beauty, mansions... everything can be ignored, He fights against suffering with his life, joy is the joy of art, and indulgence is also the indulgence of art.The kindness, faith, love and mutual understanding in the world nourish, shape and achieve him, while injustice, insidiousness, cunning and evil also pollute, corrode and spoil him.And between the two, there is the consumption of life and the struggle of the soul that we can't see clearly but implicitly: loss of love, blindness, injury, pain, and even a certain degree of depravity due to no emotional support.The conscience of art, the pursuit of art, grows crookedly in the cracks, like a small path, although it is ups and downs, it leads to glory in the end-although it is bleak to exchange one success with a lifetime of destiny, it can be exchanged. For me, I would rather have bleak brilliance than brilliant bleakness.That reminded me again of the secret path in Xingyi Village, with which the small village became a place where fate could maneuver.The same goes for life.God is fair, everyone has the time to carve, no matter how you look at it, it is like the "grid" facing Gao Shimei. It is a stage and a "limitation". Can Gao Tianliu be carved out of the "limitation"? Clouds, and fireworks in the world are engraved, depending on the depth and understanding of each person's morality-"lattice carving", this term comes from folk woodcarving experts, and it is really a portrayal of life and art.

Gao Shimei's "lattice carving" is still standing in Tonghai's "Sansheng Palace", together with the seventeen years he spent on it, and his stories that have been passed down to the world.I stood facing it for a long time that day.Time is long, many people have passed away, but it is still brilliant.In front of the stone steps, two old men voluntarily waited there, their pale hair reflecting their words, knocking on the world with their voices: The wooden lattice gate is the god of our village. Severe illness and minor injury, you have to come here to kneel down and pray for its protection.I didn't kneel, but prayed in my heart: I only hope that the secret path that it reveals meanders in the garden of life, history and art, connects my blood...

March 15, 2007 in Kunming main character Gao Shimei - Yunnan folk woodcarving master. Gao Yingkai - Gao Shimei's father. Gao Lizhi - Gao Shimei's adopted daughter. Yang Yishan - Gao Shimei's master. Monk Yuantai—the abbot of Yuanming Temple. Li Guangxiu - Sichuan sculpture master. Li Bang - Gao Shimei's only apprentice. Mu Yingtian—the county magistrate of Xizong County. Monk Huiming - the young monk of Yuanming Temple. Cai Canhua - the big pot head of the Watao Gang. Cai Jiajun - Cai Canhua's youngest son, Gao Lizhi's husband. Zhao Tianjue - tin mine boss, Gao Shimei's father-in-law.

Zhao Jinhua - Zhao Tianjue's only daughter, Gao Shimei's wife. Ma - Zhao Tianjue's wife. An Ye——French, surveyor of Yunnan-Vietnam Railway. Jack - American scholar. Su Helin - Chinese scholar, Jack's assistant in Yunnan investigation. Danuo - "pipa ghost", Yula's mother. Yula, a Dai girl, married Su Helin.Later, she was reduced to Zhengying, and was called Baisao by Gao Shimei. Paul, a Frenchman, An Ye's assistant, steals the carved wooden lattice door. Mo Luo, a Frenchman, An Ye's assistant, stole the carved wooden lattice door. Chieftain Bai Mo - Gao Shimei's friend.

Zhou bared his teeth—a bandit in Lin'an City. Fei Xiaosi——Zheng Ying's local ruffian. Duan Yunsheng - the secretary of the French Oriental Huili Bank, the owner of the Duan family garden. Zheng Kaiming—the manager of a tin mining company, the owner of a German mansion. Zhou Mingda - Gejiu businessman. Zhou Yaoshi - Zhou Mingda's wife. Yang Sen - a revolutionary who engaged in "pull foreign films". Li Waizui——Li Bang's apprentice and master woodcarver. Deaf Wang - Li Bang's apprentice and master woodcarver.