說著英語練書法

雷彥平 李潔 許文超

坐落在浙江紹興蘭渚山下、古樸而優(yōu)雅的蘭亭書法藝術學院，因為有眾多外國朋友前來學習，成了在紹興外國人最密集的地方。

英格蘭桑德蘭，當?shù)貢r間10月7日6點30分。

Roland早早起床，端坐在客廳寫字臺前臨帖、創(chuàng)作。他堅持早起練習中國書法已半年多了，而以前他總是睡前練字。改變，緣于他的中國紹興蘭亭訪學之旅?！敖B興的書法家都說，他們早上第一件事就是寫。”Roland說。

“紹興蘭亭3個月的訪學之旅，我收獲滿滿?！盧oland在視頻連線時說，他目前正忙著籌備將在維也納書法中心舉辦的中西書法跨文化展覽，屆時他在蘭亭創(chuàng)作的書法作品將會展出。他還打算在全英高校開巡回講座，分享他的中西書法跨文化研究成果，并將中國書法和紹興蘭亭介紹給英國大學生。

Roland是今年5月24日從紹興文理學院蘭亭書法藝術學院結(jié)業(yè)的。這一天，他含淚與幾位中國書法老師深情擁抱依依惜別，他說這一幕令他永生難忘。

“Roland非常熱愛中國書法藝術，進步特別快?！碧m亭書法藝術學院院長助理董舒展對這位洋學生印象深刻，她說，像Roland一樣慕名前來蘭亭學習書法的外國人很多，近5年學院就接待了2000多名。

來自世界各地的書法愛好者

蘭亭，位于浙江紹興蘭渚山下，因1600多年前王羲之在這里寫下被后人譽為“天下第一行書”的《蘭亭集序》，成為舉世聞名的書法圣地?！靶《馈钡奶m亭書法藝術學院就坐落在蘭亭，校園古樸悠雅，全校師生350余人。

46歲的Roland是英國桑德蘭大學藝術系的博士研究生，從事跨文化研究。他癡迷中國書法，博士課題研究方向是“中西書法的跨文化考察”。在朋友建議下，今年初他向蘭亭書法藝術學院申請訪學3個月。學院熱情地接收了他。

“中國書法很美，寫書法時我是那么快樂，簡直如癡如醉?！盧oland說，他之前學過篆書、楷書和隸書，特別想學草書，學院便安排他到2016級書法國際班插班學習。他在英國時，一星期練兩次書法，在紹興則是每天練習5個小時以上。

而瑞士姑娘Anne和May，則已在蘭亭書法藝術學院留學3年。她們在日內(nèi)瓦大學讀書時，接觸并喜歡上了中國書法。大學畢業(yè)后，兩人相約報考蘭亭書法藝術學院書法專業(yè)，并且都如愿以償。

“她們學習非常勤奮，剛開始學篆書時，中國同學只要花兩三個小時就能完成的作業(yè)，她們往往要寫七八個小時，但她們從不厭煩。3年堅持下來，她們完全跟上了中國同學?！盇nne和May的同班同學隋天翼說。

雖然有許多外國朋友對中國書法的技巧和意蘊常常難以理解。比如“撇”，有翻譯成“l(fā)eft falling stroke”，從英語字面理解是“往左邊下降的筆畫”。而“撇”在中國書法中帶著速度和節(jié)奏，用筆十分講究。然而這并不妨礙外國人學書法，一些外國朋友把中國書法看作“線條的藝術”。

還有一些外國朋友把中國書法當作畫來欣賞。Anne就是這樣，她說，她每寫完一幅字，都像是畫完一幅畫，開心極了。

“許多外國朋友不認識漢字，不了解中國文化，于是往往只能從線條、空間、結(jié)構等方面來理解書法。”董舒展說，好在書法可以在書寫中把難以言表的元素展示出來，這一點外國人常能領悟得很好。

文化無界，書法藝術似一座橋梁，把紹興和世界緊緊連接在一起。在蘭亭書法藝術學院，除了像Roland一樣的訪問學者，還有許多外國團隊，像瑞士的日內(nèi)瓦大學和日本的創(chuàng)價大學等，會定期派遣書法研習團赴蘭亭學習交流。這個小小的學院，成為在紹興外國人最密集的地方。

走出國門的蘭亭書法使者

“Miss Dong， do you think I can become a calligrapher？”（董老師，你說我能成為書法家嗎？）

“You will be the best calligrapher among beef shop owners in New Zealand！”你會成為新西蘭牛肉老板中書法寫得最棒的?。?/p>

這是前不久新西蘭牛肉貿(mào)易商John和董舒展的微信聊天對話。

4年前董舒展帶著幾位學生去新西蘭奧克蘭大學開設“蘭亭書法學堂”，講授中國書法。John報了名，非常認真地學了起來，和來自中國的書法老師成為了好朋友。董舒展回紹興后，兩人還一直保持著聯(lián)系。

從2015年開始，蘭亭書法藝術學院在新西蘭、瑞士、波蘭、意大利、俄羅斯、美國、加拿大、捷克等8個國家，先后開設了海外“蘭亭書法學堂”。而董舒展，正是學院第一位赴海外傳授書法藝術的老師。

“外國人對書法的熱愛是發(fā)自內(nèi)心的，文化交流互鑒會使不同國家的人們因此走到一起?！标惥胬蠋熢慌赏獯罄Φ录{大學開展書法教學。他說，雖然中意文化有所不同，但人們對藝術的欣賞和追求卻是相通的。在摩德納大學，“蘭亭書法學堂”很受意大利人歡迎，這使陳炬感到自豪。現(xiàn)在，有800多年歷史的摩德納大學，已將書法列入碩士研究生的學分課程。

在飄洋過海的書法教學中，中國書法老師也常受到許多外國學生的啟迪，使他們對這門藝術生發(fā)出別樣的思考和更深的領悟。吳加錫是蘭亭書法藝術學院2016級書法國際班的一名學生，2017年他參加了俄羅斯陶里亞蒂國立大學“蘭亭書法學堂”的書法教學活動。一次一位俄羅斯鐵路工人來聽講，課后請教他一些很有意思的問題，比如欣賞一幅書法作品該如何去體會書法家創(chuàng)作時的心情等。吳加錫說，“這些我以前從來沒有想過，但又確實是我們應該研究和了解的?！?/p>

如今，書法藝術已在世界許多地方落地生根，“蘭亭書法學堂”在海外的影響力也越來越大。2015年以來，蘭亭書法藝術學院共選派10多位書法老師和150多位優(yōu)秀學生分赴各國授課，吸引了上千名外國書法愛好者走進中國書法課堂。

蘭亭書法藝術學院副院長王曉亮說，今后，“蘭亭書法學堂”還將在日本、韓國，以及歐洲、南美等國家和地區(qū)開設，方便更多的外國朋友能接觸、學習中國書法。

（部分圖片由Roland和紹興文理學院蘭亭書法藝術學院提供）

Orchid Pavilion School of Calligraphy， set up in 2004 as part of Shaoxing University， lies at the foot of Mount Lanzhu， about 12 kilometers southwest of Shaoxing City. The region is called Orchid Pavilion， where Wang Xizhi （303-361）， presumably the greatest Chinese calligrapher in history， lived and wrote the famous ， a masterpiece in both prose and calligraphy. Orchid Pavilion is a pilgrimage destination for calligraphers from all over China. The school is also a place where foreigners with a passion for Chinese calligraphy study and pick up the ancient penmanship. Over the past five years， the school has trained over 2，000 international students. In no other places in Shaoxing can you find so many international students. “These international calligraphers are like seeds. They disseminate Chinese calligraphy all over the world，” says Dong Shuzhan， a calligrapher and assistant to the director of the school. ?

The school itself is small. The students and faculty members add up to about 350. It not only offers 4-year undergraduate studies of calligraphy but also runs short-term calligraphy courses for international students.

Roland， a British scholar， studied calligraphy for three months at the school in early 2019. He graduated from the short-term course on May 24， 2019. The study has changed his vision of calligraphy and changed his practice time. Before he came to Orchid Pavilion， he usually practiced in the evening. He switched to morning after he began with the course at the school. His classmates and his teachers practiced in the morning. He has adhered to the morning routine. Back home， he is now heavily engaged in work connected with Chinese calligraphy. He is now making preparations for a calligraphy exhibition. The purpose of the exhibition is to introduce Chinese calligraphy and Orchid Pavilion in Shaoxing to college students in the United Kingdom. His calligraphic works created during his three-month study at the school will be exhibited at the upcoming exhibition.

The college also offers long courses for international students. Anne and May， two Swedish women， have been studying at the school for three years. They fell in love with Chinese calligraphy while going to college in Geneva. After they graduated， they came over to the school in Orchid Pavilion. Chinese calligraphy is their pursuit now. They have caught up with their Chinese classmates in calligraphy thanks to their hard work.

It is quite common that many international students do not have a commanding knowledge of Chinese， but that problem doesnt prevent them from studying calligraphy. For many of them， Chinese calligraphy is an art of lines. They write as if they were making a drawing. In order to grasp calligraphy， they examine Chinese characters in terms of space， line and structure， etc. “An excellent calligrapher highlights the inexplicable beauty of Chinese characters. International students can do that pretty well，” explains Dong Shuzhan.

The school not only attracts individuals like Roland， Anne and May. It holds special exchange programs regularly. Foreign universities and colleges often send groups of calligraphers over to attend these short-term programs.

Moreover， the school sends teams of teachers and students out to visit foreign countries and hold short-term courses there. This international program is known as “Orchid Pavilion Calligraphy Classroom”.

In 2016， Dong Shuzhan headed a platoon of students from the school and visited New Zealand， where they held a calligraphic course. Local students in the course were from all walks of life. John， one of the students， is a beef trader， signed up and studied Chinese calligraphy. He keeps in touch with Dong through WeChat， a Chinese social media.

Since 2015， the school has run the calligraphy program in New Zealand， Switzerland， Poland， Italy， Russia， the United States， Canada， and Czech. Dong Shuzhan is the first teacher of calligrapher sent overseas for this program. More than ten teachers and 150 students have gone overseas to be part of this program. Chen Ju， a teacher with the school， conducted a “calligraphy program” at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia in Italy， which was founded in 1175. “Though the two countries have different cultures， people enjoy art in the same way，” observes the Chinese calligrapher. “That explains why the Chinese calligraphy course is so popular on the campus.” Chen is proud of the course he first conducted there. Now the Chinese calligraphy is a must-do course for postgraduate students of the university.

The program is scheduled to expand to include many other countries in East Asia， Europe and South America， according to Wang Xiaoliang， vice director of the school.