竹之韵
竹，是传统文化里备受推崇的一种植物。它与梅、松并称 “岁寒三友 ”。哪怕在百花凋谢的冬季，竹子也能凌霜傲雪，从不屈服。它不是花，却与梅、兰、菊并称花中 “四君子 ”，因为它姿态挺拔修长、四季青翠。自古以来，喜爱竹子的文人墨客数不胜数。他们都是怎样赞美竹子的呢？
宋代的著名诗人苏轼曾说：“宁可食无肉，不可居无竹 ”，就算吃不到肉也没关系，只要我住的地方有竹子就足够了。苏轼本是一位才华横溢、想要匡扶天下的士大夫，从政没多久就陷入党争，被小人诬陷。皇帝原本要将他杀死，是老臣们一再求情，才免除死罪。与其他怀才不遇的人不同，苏轼被贬谪之后，没有意志消沉、自怨自艾，相反，他像一根翠竹，在哪里生根就在哪里生长。
西湖淤塞，严重影响了农业生产和人民的生活，苏轼率众疏浚西湖，并把挖出的淤泥集中起来，筑成一条纵贯西湖的长堤，后人把它叫作 “苏公堤 ”。除了关心百姓，苏轼也非常热爱生活。他是一个不折不扣的大美食家，发明的东坡肉红艳透亮，软而不烂、肥而不腻，为枯燥的生活增添了一抹亮色。苏轼总是在居所的周围种满竹子，清风拂过，竹叶轻响，竹影错落，翠竹成了他的好友，陪伴了苏轼寂寞的人生，治愈了他的内心伤痕。
“咬定青山不放松，立根原在破岩中。千磨万击还坚劲，任尔东西南北风。”这首用来吟咏竹子的小诗，用来形容苏轼非常合适。这首《竹石》的作者是清代著名画家郑板桥，“扬州八怪 ”之一，一生爱竹。他赏竹、画竹、咏竹，与竹子结下不解之缘。人们问他：“为何能把竹子画得如此传神？”他概括出三个词：“眼中之竹 ”“胸中之竹 ”“手中之竹 ”。所谓 “眼中之竹 ”，指的是自然中真实的竹子，画家需要对竹子细心观察，从实景中找到画意。所谓 “胸中之竹 ”，是艺术创作时的构思。苏轼的好朋友文与可擅长画竹，就强调作画之前要 “胸有成竹 ”，先把要表现的对象在头脑中呈现出来再下笔。所谓 “手中之竹 ”，指的是艺术创作的过程，艺术家们需要通过自己的技法、能力进行对现实的再创作。郑板桥的这一套理论说的是画竹子，却也将主观与客观、现象与想象、真实与艺术结合在一起，道出了艺术创作源于现实、高于现实的道理。不仅是诗歌和绘画，郑板桥的书法也很好，被推为诗书画 “三绝 ”。在他的 “竹石图 ”里，常常题有大量的咏竹之作。他借竹抒情、托竹言志，道出了竹子之所以被人推崇的真谛：“未出土时先有节，及凌云处尚虚心 ”，竹子还没有破土而出时就已经生好了节，就算长得很高、参破云霄，内部也是空心的。竹节谐音 “气节 ”，是君子的道德与品格，无芯谐音 “无心 ”，象征君子虚心待物。竹子的生长特点、外形样貌恰好暗合了传统文化中对君子之道的追求。
晋代大书法家王子猷曾指着竹子说：“何可一日无此君！”中华民族离不开青翠修长的绿竹，也离不开它所蕴含的坚韧不屈、虚怀若谷的民族精神。
The Bamboo
Gentlemen of the Plant World
Bamboo, a beloved plant in traditional Chinese culture, was dubbed one of the “Three Companions in Winter,” along with plum blossom and pine tree. They got this name because of their defiance against the frost and snow in the depths of winter, when other plants wither and perish. Bamboo, technically not a kind of flower, is also known as one of the “Four Esquires of the Floral World,” for its features of being tall and straight as well as being green all year round. Literati and intellectuals throughout history have been fond of this unique plant. Witness how they paid their compliments:
Su Shi (苏轼 ), a famous Song Dynasty (960-1279) poet, had this to say: “I would rather be without meat than live a life without bamboo.” Su had been a court official with extraordinary talent and a lofty ambition to serve his country, but, before long, he had been thrown headlong into a partisan war. Framed by others, he could have been executed had not other senior officials interceded with the emperor on his behalf. Su, however, distinguished himself from the common unfulfilled men by his “bamboo-like character.” Instead of sulking and sinking, and feeling sorry for himself, he took root wherever fate led him, making himself at home there just like a proud and vigorous bamboo.
The West Lake was silted up during Su Shi’s administration of Hangzhou, severely hampering local life and production. Su led the people on a dredging mission and, with the sludge dug out, built a causeway across the lake known as “Lord Su’s Causeway.” He was also a fervent lover of life, and a quintessential gastronome. Dongpo’s Pork, a well-known dish, was said to have been his creation. Soft but not mushy, richly flavored but not greasy, it was a silver lining in the otherwise monotonous greyness of his life. In addition, he always made sure that his residence was surrounded by bamboo, the leaves of which whistled in the breeze and shadow-boxed with the light, healing his heart like a good companion.
There is a popular poem dedicated to bamboo, or rather, to anyone whose true self was mirrored by it, such as Su Shi:
“Setting my root on mountains green/
I have fought my way out of rocks/
Standing proud and firm against the slings of wind/
Wherever they may come from.”
The poet was Zheng Banqiao, a renowned Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) painter and notably one of the “Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou,” who was obsessed with bamboo all his life. Bamboo was the subject of his appreciation, paintings and compositions. He was particularly adept at painting bamboo, which often made people wonder. “How do you make them so real and lifelike?” they would ask. Zheng replied with his three-fold theory – that a painter should have bamboo in his eyes, his mind and his hand. By “bamboo in the eyes,” Zheng was referring to the actual bamboo in Nature, which the painter should observe thoroughly to capture its essence. “Bamboo in the mind,” an artistic conception, was best illustrated by Su’s close friend Wen Yuke. He was an excellent bamboo painter, who believed that painters should have the “ready-for-use bamboo” in their mind before painting. As for “bamboo in the hand,” it is the process of artistic creation, when artists reproduce the reality with their techniques and proficiency. Zheng’s theory, focusing on bamboo painting, also integrates objectivity and subjectivity, appearance and imagination, reality and artistic representation. It reveals the truth that art comes from reality but reproduces it on a higher plane. In addition, Zheng was also an accomplished calligrapher, often referred to as a master of the “three” (poetry, calligraphy and painting). Many of his verses dedicated to bamboo can be found in his paintings of bamboos and rocks, in which he asserted his principles, found an outlet for his emotions, and revealed the moral values associated with bamboo. “Before birth they have formed their ‘joints’(节 , jie, a homograph and homophone meaning ‘moral integrity’ in Chinese)/Even nearly reaching the sky, they remain hollow inside (虚心 , xuxin, a homograph and homophone meaning ‘humble’).” That is to say, bamboo’s biological features and physical appearance befit the traditional description of a noble man’s moral pursuit.
Wang Ziyou, a great Jin Dynasty (265-420) calligrapher, famously pointed to some bamboo and said, “I shall not get by another day without thee!” This is true of the Chinese people in general. The slim-figured, green-washed bamboo, shooting upward straight as arrows, embody the persistent, dauntless yet modest and humble national ethos.
