藍夾纈十代傳人王河生

張益

一

在瑞安，國家級非遺項目“溫州藍夾纈”傳承人王河生是個傳奇人物。

1955年，王河生出生于瑞安馬嶼鎮(zhèn)凈水村，天生一股農(nóng)民的韌勁。他讀書只到中學(xué)，卻有對知識的領(lǐng)悟靈性。

王氏祖上連續(xù)九代以藍夾纈印染為業(yè)，清末民初在溫州信和街開設(shè)染坊，名傳浙閩兩省。新中國成立后染坊關(guān)門，王河生的父親創(chuàng)辦了馬嶼染色工藝廠。他從小耳濡目染，知曉其工藝流程。

1973年，王河生進該廠學(xué)藝，實際操作技能飛速提高。可是沒幾年工廠停辦，他便帶著妻兒北上石家莊、北京開設(shè)洗染店。通過多年發(fā)展，王河生干出了一番事業(yè)，被行業(yè)公推為中國洗染行業(yè)協(xié)會籌備組成員，全國洗滌產(chǎn)品和洗滌業(yè)聯(lián)合會秘書長、會長。其間，他轉(zhuǎn)為城市戶口，拿了工資入了黨，還幾次奉派去新加坡、日本、韓國及美國考察。國內(nèi)外現(xiàn)代化學(xué)品的印染嚴(yán)重污染環(huán)境，觸動他重溫生態(tài)型的靛青印染之夢。

探究過印染史的王河生明白，中國是世界上最早發(fā)明織物印染的國家。北京山頂洞人遺留物件中已有石染，《詩經(jīng)》《爾雅》等也有不少草染的記載。用植物染印，好處是少污染、護生態(tài)、利健康，又能推進種植業(yè)、農(nóng)副業(yè)來帶動農(nóng)村經(jīng)濟繁榮。目前，世界各國努力發(fā)展環(huán)保型染印，中國的傳統(tǒng)植物印染工藝受到普遍重視。

古代中國的編織品染色印花品種豐富。《考工記》將直接草染分作三大類：夾纈（鏤染），絞纈，蠟纈。其中，藍夾纈是夾纈中最普遍流行的一類（其余有紅、紫、綠、黑、橙等）。這種隋唐以來用木雕版澆灌靛青印制各色花布的工藝，是復(fù)色夾纈的最重要遺存。浙南閩北及贛省部分地區(qū)的百姓千余年來一直喜歡藍夾纈花布，說它解潮氣、防傷風(fēng)，宜于做老人小孩的衣服與床被。同時這里的酸性土壤適宜馬藍草（民間叫做靛青）的種植，方便就地取材，所以藍夾纈染印甚為流布。直至上世紀(jì)50年代中后期，它才聲息漸歇。但作為王氏傳人，王河生覺得自己有義務(wù)有責(zé)任讓它重?zé)ㄉ鷻C，也可讓世界看一看，中國自古就有寶貝！

二

2006年秋，王河生決心回鄉(xiāng)創(chuàng)業(yè)，恢復(fù)祖?zhèn)魉{夾纈工藝，或許能與鄉(xiāng)親們共同致富，能讓偏僻的凈水村爭口氣——當(dāng)時沒想著入選國家級非遺名錄呢！

小兒子王新泉回憶說：“爸爸好樣的，拿得起，放得下。那一年我深受震撼。男子漢應(yīng)該有這種氣魄，所以我對藍夾纈也有了感情！”

王河生歷來名聲好，苦干，正直，熱心肯幫人，回家才一個月就被推選為村支書。農(nóng)民創(chuàng)業(yè)必須腳踏實地。王河生找來幾個兒時伙伴與老染工胡義早謀劃：最重要的是確保原料馬藍草至少種上六七十畝。

王河生統(tǒng)一了十幾戶農(nóng)民思想，帶頭申報成立了馬嶼靛青專業(yè)合作社，并被選為社長。他為合作社投入最高的十萬元股金。社員們出土地，出資金，供種苗，提建議，清明前后種下了馬藍草。

馬藍草的莖葉用來練制靛青膏作材料，今年豐收在望。但用作板藍根藥料，必須蓄根到第二年冬天挖售，才保質(zhì)量——這就是古稱“老藍頭”的傳統(tǒng)中草藥。貧弱農(nóng)家，兩年的生活靠什么支撐？

王河生先抓骨干，動員再湊份子幫窮家；自己外出悄悄貼高息借貸，還移用兒子訂婚的聘禮錢。公心仁德感動了鎮(zhèn)村干部與農(nóng)村合作銀行，支持放貸二十萬元，使合作社渡過了“守著馬藍餓肚皮”的第一個難關(guān)。

有兩千年歷史的藍夾纈是中國印染工藝的活化石。其流程除馬藍的種植、靛青膏染料的練制，印染的技術(shù)與經(jīng)驗，還得有關(guān)鍵的花版雕刻。沒有雕版，就成不了藍夾纈。這是第二個難關(guān)。

王河生打聽到二十里外高樓鎮(zhèn)的黃其良會雕版，跑了十幾次，直到有一次閑聊，講到中國夾纈在世界上早有盛名，倫敦大英博物館將收藏的中國隋唐雕版視作珍寶；講到唐玄宗把藍夾纈及印花雕版作為國禮贈送外國使節(jié)，至今日本正倉院還珍藏著其中的一份作鎮(zhèn)院之寶；還講到大詩人白居易寫過“成都新夾纈，梁漢碎胭脂”的《贈皇甫郎中》詩收藏于聯(lián)合國教科文組織?！澳闳魩臀覀兯{夾纈工藝枯木逢春，明、后年報省、報國家作非遺項目來用，你黃其良立頭功，垂青史！”一席話感動人，兩人緊握手，淚花盈。

王河生發(fā)明催化劑即失傳的染媒，是第三個難關(guān)！

馬藍草秋后收割下來，整理枝葉，入缸浸泡腐爛打靛，制作染膏成功了，不料幾次夾布印染，都以失敗告終。王河生與胡義早一同暗中嘆氣。

王河生想起爺爺說過，《荀子·勸學(xué)》中有“藎以銅鹽媒染可得鮮綠，栩用鐵鹽媒染可得黑”的話。發(fā)明染媒（催化劑）是中國染色技術(shù)對世界的貢獻，也是印染科技發(fā)展史上的重大貢獻。以前父親在染色工藝廠操作都加入染媒、也就是催化劑產(chǎn)生發(fā)酵。父親長年印染，發(fā)酵劑始終在靛缸中遺留著，俗稱缸腳料?，F(xiàn)在從頭開始，必須急尋發(fā)酵母本。

王河生記起師從過爺爺?shù)倪h親王雁山大叔，但他三次白跑了幾百里涂泥路，依然沒有成功。

這個春節(jié)過得慘啊。王河生打聽到貴州有一蠟染老藝人，也弄過幾年靛青藍，研制過發(fā)酵劑，就卷起背包冒雨雪西行拜師。他軟纏硬磨泡了一個月，老藝人關(guān)照：“氣溫不同，地域不同，濕度不同，配方中各種成分輕重多少，你得親自測試，尤其是糖度。這是夾纈質(zhì)量的關(guān)鍵！”

歸來后，王河生趕緊配齊原料做試驗。一星期，半個月，兩個月，整整九十多個日夜，他試成了靛青染料發(fā)酵劑。小兒子王新泉把買香煙的錢改買兩串長長的鞭炮，噼里啪啦足足燃放了十幾分鐘，和鄉(xiāng)親們同慶。

三

2008年冬，合作社的八十多畝馬藍草種植獲得豐收。一批兩年的宿根老藍頭品質(zhì)優(yōu)良，其清熱解毒、利尿消炎的效用十分顯著，完全符合《中國植物志》所載“南板藍根”及《中華藥典》所列性能。溫州與南通制藥廠等爭著收購。社員們喜滋滋地殺豬過年，要求入社的猛增到六十多戶。

2009年春，種下兩百余畝馬藍草之后，王河生招集骨干轉(zhuǎn)向建造染坊正式試制藍夾纈，請來胡義早、黃其良及一位老染工當(dāng)參謀。由春入夏，他們反復(fù)折騰了三個多月，總算印出藍布、藍帶、農(nóng)家圍裙等花樣布，初步達到清末民初的水平，但相距明代工藝的高水平還差一大截。王河生咧嘴直笑：“不容易，不容易，還要反復(fù)試！”

2009年6月，溫州藍夾纈制作工藝被列入浙江省第三批非遺保護名錄，領(lǐng)頭人王河生被批準(zhǔn)為省、市藍夾纈制作工藝傳承人。省非遺保護中心鄭重建議：繼續(xù)提升技藝，確保藍夾纈工藝穩(wěn)定，擴大保護教育，今后申報國家級。

在慶功命名會后，有記者向王河生詢問感受和下一步打算，王河生擲地有聲地回答：“我們有把握向國家級沖刺。非遺保護缺乏青少年根本不行。我們明年先把民辦‘藍夾纈博物館搞起來，補好非遺的宣傳教育這一課，再堅持藍夾纈精染試驗，擦亮牌子，爭取明后年拿到國家級非遺品牌！”

2010年5月，王河生捐大頭、大家出小頭集資180萬元趁仲夏動工，三個月建成三層近千平方米的博物館舍。秋收后他們聘請文化人相助布展，從下至上有靛青煉制、加工印染演示，有藍夾纈各類實物及制作器具展示，有中國印染與藍夾纈發(fā)展歷史的圖片、資料展覽，有馬藍草種植與“老藍頭”牌板藍根藥用解說及青黛副產(chǎn)品的說明，還有藍夾纈系列產(chǎn)品出售的展銷。

這一年，馬嶼靛青專業(yè)合作社被命名為浙江省示范性農(nóng)民專業(yè)合作社。

2011年元旦，藍夾纈博物館開館，免費接待。消息傳開，名傳四方。一位來自深圳的中年臺商，參觀后硬要預(yù)付1萬元訂金，說要購買五套傳統(tǒng)的藍夾纈被套（即民間夾花被），下半年回臺灣分贈奶奶、姨婆、表嬸等作紀(jì)念。

這時，王河生已經(jīng)放眼海外：國家號召生產(chǎn)性保護非遺，我們抓緊沖刺國家級，把標(biāo)志性夾花被印制出來，走出國門……

四

2011年春，合作社擴種馬藍草，并與江西上饒、福建莆田簽約種植收購；又引進包裝流水線，生產(chǎn)“老藍頭”牌南板藍根茶飲。合作社首先引來韓國客商，訂購板藍根二十噸和以靛青曬濾加工成粉的“青黛”十噸。

此時王河生繼續(xù)帶領(lǐng)大伙傾心仿明代藍夾纈印制?！?月27日下午2點多，”王河生一筆一畫寫下難忘的記事（后刊《溫州日報》），“在馬嶼藍夾纈博物館染坊綜合車間，我與技師胡義早等十二人，把一匹白布細(xì)心地夾版浸入靛青染缸。反復(fù)三次提起放下，提起放下，白布先變黃綠色，空氣中氧化后顯出淺藍、大藍、深藍……取出，瀝干，析下雕版，藍白分明，明代麒麟送子圖案夾花被布印染成功！瑞安市藍夾纈印染工藝失傳半個世紀(jì)以后得以重生……”

社員們在拍掌歡呼，王河生卻躲上樓悄悄抹去淚水，不吭一聲。“五年來的沒日沒夜，就盼著這一天——他能不激動??？”老染工胡義早顫抖著說。

就在這一夜開始，王河生安心地執(zhí)筆修改早先呈報的申報國家非遺的新報告。一個多月之后的6月20日，文化部公布：溫州藍夾纈技藝列入第三批國家級非物質(zhì)文化遺產(chǎn)名錄，傳承人王河生。

第二天，王河生配上更深的老花鏡，提筆補充修改以前編寫的書稿《植物靛青與傳統(tǒng)印染》，希望廣傳后人。年終，他們?nèi)居〕晒Σ噬◤?fù)色）夾纈，讓人們耳目一新。

2012年春節(jié)，馬嶼靛青合作社的藍夾纈產(chǎn)品門市部在瑞安市區(qū)萬松路開業(yè)，出售系列馬藍文化旅游保健品、裝飾品、收藏品：南板藍根茶包，青黛與靛藍花產(chǎn)品，生態(tài)衣褲、餐巾、桌布及手提包，靛青膏染料，還有藍夾纈被面、被套與婦女圍裙……

法人代表王河生說得理直氣壯：“非遺保護不能死保死守，應(yīng)該抓生產(chǎn)性的開發(fā)，讓民眾與市場接受，才能長久傳承，萬古長青！”而阿根叔悄聲告訴筆者：這幾年，河生一沒領(lǐng)工資，二得了胃病，“他是為家鄉(xiāng)，為夢想耗命啊！”

筆者許久見不到王河生，便向忙得滿頭大汗的兩位年輕工作人員打聽。一位帥小伙轉(zhuǎn)頭回答：“我爸去北京籌備演示與展銷去了，這里分給我們干?！闭f罷又轉(zhuǎn)頭忙著應(yīng)付顧客的詢問與購貨。

原來王新泉也上陣了，他是王河生寄予厚望的年輕兒子……□

（本文攝影：鄭建?。?/p>

Wang Hesheng Restores Indigo Jiaxie

By Zhang Yi

Wang Hesheng, the designated master of Indigo Jiaxie, a national intangible cultural heritage, is a legendary figure in Ruian, a county-level City in Wenzhou, a central city in southern Zhejiang Province.

Inscribed on the list of Chinese national representative intangible cultural heritage on June 20, 2011, Wenzhou Indigo Jiaxie is a precious traditional Chinese printing and dyeing craft. With a history of thousand years, this dyeing technique was widely used in Zhejiang and Fujian Provinces in Tang Dynasty (618-906) and its popularity lasted until the early 1950s.

Today, Wenzhou Indigo Jiaxie is considered a living fossil of various ancient dyeing techniques used in the feudal China, and it has academic, historical and cultural value. Indigo Jiaxie things are in the collection of the British Museum and in the collection of Shosoin of Japan.

The indigo printing has run in the Wangs for at least ten generations. Wang Hesheng is a tenth-generation master of the family craft. Now he cannot put his finger on the year when the family first set up a dyeing business on Xinhe Street, Wenzhou City. It was either in the last years of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) or in the early years of the Republic of China (1911-1949).

After the People's Republic of China was founded, the family closed its business down in Wenzhou and Wang Heshengs father set up a dyeing factory in Mayu, a rural town closer to his home village of Jingshui.

Born in 1955, Wang Hesheng got his hands dyed in the family business when he was a child. In 1973, Wang began working in the family factory, mastering all the trade secrets of the family business. By the time the factory closed a few years later, Wang had already been a master. He moved to Shijiazhuang and Beijing with his wife and son, and operated several cleaners. Wang did business honestly, and was good at absorbing techniques. Thanks to his hard working and business acumen, he established himself as a master of the industry. He was elected secretary and president of the industrial association. He visited Singapore, Japan, Korea and America several times for business research and field study.

In the autumn of 2006, he announced that he wanted to go back home and restart the familys indigo printing and dyeing tradition. After more than twenty years in Beijing, Wang and his family had gained a firm foothold there. Wangs wife and son were shocked. They resisted at first, but finally they came around and moved back.

To bring the family technique back, Wang had a complete to-do list in his mind. He knew clearly that knowing how to restore the lost craft was one thing, but translating the blueprint into reality was another.

The most important step was to establish a farm that would produce a large quantity of the woad that would support a factorys annual use. Neighbors knew Wang personally and were willing to contribute to the restoration project. Before long, more than 10 households in the village signed up for his initiative and joined Mayu Indigowoad Cooperative to plant the crop in the next spring. Wang put 100,000 yuan as his startup shares of the cooperative. The farmlands of the households added up to a total of about 5 hectares, large enough to maintain the minimum crop for the blue dyestuff.

Around the Qingming Festival 2007, the woad crop was planted. In the autumn, the plant was about waist high. The leaves and stalks go into the dye and the indigowoad root is a popular ingredient for traditional Chinese medicine. In order to ensure quality and profitability, the crop must grow for two years before the root can be harvested. Some member households, however, needed cash urgently. So Wang loaned his sons wedding money to those in need. A local bank gave the cooperative a loan of 200,000. With the cash problem solved and the woad growing well, Wang Hesheng turned to other important things of his restoration project.

Wang needed a woodcarving artist to prepare printing boards for printing. He asked around and found a qualified woodcarving artist living about ten miles away. In order to engage the artist named Huang Qiliang, Wang visited him more than ten times. He said that restoring the lost craft was a worthwhile cause and he promised that Huangs name would go down in history if the lost art was successfully restored. The artist agreed to join the restoration endeavor.

The next challenge was to find a catalyst, a must have for the dyeing process of the cloth. After the woad was finally harvested, Wang made the dyestuff and tried to get calico dyed. However, the dyeing was unsuccessful without an appropriate catalyst. After learning that a craftsman in Guizhou, a province in southwestern China, had developed yeasts, Wang went to visit the master. The master explained that the yeast would respond closely to ambient temperatures and other conditions and that he needed to test and experiment to find the most suitable yeast for his factory. After more than ninety days of experiment, he developed the yeast for his indigo dyestuff.

The first big success for the cooperative was that the biennial crop yielded high quality indigowoad roots, which were sold lucratively to TCM drug makers in Wenzhou and Nantong. Sixty more households in the village wanted to join the cooperative. In the spring of 2009, more than 13 hectares of woad were planted.

With a workshop established and everything else ready, Wang got down to the serious business of bringing the Indigo Jiaxie back.

After hard working for more than three months, Wang and his assistants produced the first batch of Indigo Jiaxie products that were as good as those produced at the end of Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China. However, these aprons and blue fabrics were inferior in quality to those produced in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

In June 2009, the craft of Wenzhou Indigo Jiaxie was listed in the catalogue of Zhejiang provincial intangible cultural heritage and Wang Hesheng was appointed the master of the craft and put in charge of carrying the craft on.

This inscription turned out to be a turning point for Wangs Indigo Jiaxie project. The cooperative expanded fast. Farmers in Jiangxi and Fujian provinces were contracted for supplying quality woad to the cooperative. The cooperatives products now included indigo dyestuff and a beverage made of indigowoad roots. With a fund of 1.8 million raised, Wang had a museum built in Mayu Town to display the restored traditional craft.

On April 27, 2011, Wang and his 11-people team finally succeeded in making very beautiful printed fabric. It was a historical moment, marking the complete comeback of the Indigo Jiaxie of Wenzhou. On June 20, 2011, Wenzhou Indigo Jiaxie was inscribed as a national intangible cultural heritage.

After the Spring Festival of 2012, Wangs cooperative opened a sales outlet in Mayu Town. Now Wang has ambitious plans to market the cooperatives indigo products. (Translated by Danni)□