The “Grandma Moses” of China:The Alternative Life of a Countrywoman

Photos by Liu Zhongcan

Yang Zufen painting楊祖芬老人在作畫

從地上撿煙盒開始自學畫畫 堅持40 多年身患重病仍未放棄

“做你喜歡的事吧，哪怕你已經(jīng)80 歲了?！蹦ξ髂棠痰倪@句話曾鼓勵過無數(shù)人。

摩西奶奶是一名居住在美國鄉(xiāng)村的普通主婦，一生與土地和家務(wù)打交道，70 多歲時才拿起畫筆，畫了1000 多幅油畫，成為二戰(zhàn)前最令人尊敬的民間藝術(shù)家，也是同時代最知名的女性藝術(shù)家。

中國也有這樣一位“摩西奶奶”，她是湖北省安陸市趙棚鎮(zhèn)66歲的楊祖芬，一生都未接受過正規(guī)藝術(shù)訓練。但憑借著對畫畫的熱愛，她十幾年如一日，描繪了數(shù)百幅山村田野的自然景象。

地上撿起煙盒 開始畫畫夢想

2021年元月的安陸田野，在肆意的冬風里透露著些許的蕭瑟，和老人畫里的風景很像。

眼前這個花白短發(fā)的老婆婆，一身紅棉襖站在路旁，和別的農(nóng)村老人沒什么兩樣。如果不是看過她的畫，很難想象，她的心中還裝著這么一個濃墨重彩的大千世界。

楊祖芬的家里很簡陋，擺放也很隨意。當我們提出看她的畫時，老人臉上抑制不住涌出笑意，充滿喜悅和滿足，沒有絲毫害羞。她從臥室里翻出箱子，一卷卷畫紙整齊地放在里面。她像寶貝似的一張張打開，慢慢給我們講她從煙盒子畫起的夢想。

“1976年，我才22 歲，那時候在土橋小學當代課老師。學校的一面大黑板，我總會留一塊，畫點簡筆畫逗孩子們開心，有時候畫幾個小人，有時候畫神話故事?！睏钭娣艺f，自己是這樣和畫畫結(jié)緣的。

后來沒能留校任教，楊祖芬只能回家種地，照顧家人和孩子，但這個愛好并沒丟下?！澳菚r候家里窮，根本沒有錢買畫紙，我就撿地上別人抽完扔下的香煙盒子，翻過里面的白紙，就著小孩的鉛筆來畫畫?！?/p>

楊祖芬的畫里出現(xiàn)最多的動物是牛，通體都是沉靜的墨黑色，拖著大大的肚子，或溫順或木訥。老人對水牛的喜歡，來源于骨子里最簡單最樸素的情感，“我們農(nóng)民祖祖輩輩都離不開牛，牛是最吃苦耐勞的。我小時候放牛，總想著找一塊最好的草，讓我的牛吃飽。”老人笑了起來，直到現(xiàn)在，她畫牛也忍不住在牛腳邊多畫些青草。

攢了一年的錢 只為裝裱畫作

從煙盒子到紙，有多難？

楊祖芬說，年輕時，家里就丈夫有固定工作，也是鄉(xiāng)村教師，不僅要養(yǎng)活一家四口，負擔孩子的教育費用，還要照顧雙目失明的母親。女兒熊丹丹記得，小時候過年，家里只能買幾斤豬肉，為了不給他們家添負擔，親戚拜完年就走，不會留下來吃飯。

“Follow your heart,even if you are 80 years old.” The words of Grandma Moses have inspired many.

Grandma Moses was a housewife residing in a rural community in the United States,who had farmed and done housework all her life up until she picked up a paintbrush at the age of 70.She created more than 1,000 oil paintings throughout her life and by the outbreak of World War II,was one of the most respected folk artists,and is the most well-known contemporary female artist.

There is also a “Grandma Moses” in China.Her name is Yang Zufen,a 66-year-old lady and a local of Zhaopeng Town,Anlu City.Having never received any formal art training,Yang Zufen has painted for more than 4 decades purely out of her love for art,and has created hundreds of works featuring natural beauty—primarily mountains,villages,and fields.

Stories Start from Cigarette Packs

It’s a day in January 2021 when we met Grandma Yang.The fields of Anlu looked a little bleak in the frigid wintry bluster,like a scene removed from her paintings.

In her nondescript red cottonpadded jacket juxtaposed against a mane of silvery hair,the elderly woman waiting for us by the roadside looked no different from any other senior citizen one might meet in the countryside.If you hadn’t seen her paintings,it would be hard to imagine that there was such a rich and colorful world in her imagination.

Grandma Yang’s home was simple and humble,with things strewn everywhere with no logic guiding their placement.When we asked to see her paintings,she couldn’t help but beam with joy and satisfaction.She pulled out a box from her bedroom,which was full of rolls of drawing papers stacked neatly in it.She opened them one by one carefully and told us her stories starting from the cigarette packs.

那時候，楊祖芬上山砍柴、撿松針和菌菇去賣。偶爾有多余的錢，就買點畫紙，一張裁成四份，“為的就是能多畫三張畫”。

丈夫熊其發(fā)不能理解，家里條件已經(jīng)這么困難了，為什么她還要執(zhí)意畫畫？“畫畫需要花錢，我們這樣的家庭是支撐不了的?！毙芷浒l(fā)告訴記者，直到前幾年，家里才還清孩子讀書和結(jié)婚找親戚借的錢。

夫妻兩人有過一次沖突。熊其發(fā)需要做一個小手術(shù)，準備了3000 多元手術(shù)費，他看到妻子裝裱她的13 幅畫時，以為用掉了手術(shù)費，氣得大發(fā)雷霆，燒了一大摞妻子的畫作。其實，裱畫的錢，是楊祖芬攢了一年的養(yǎng)老錢。

為了買畫材，楊祖芬極少逛商店。一件綠色的夾棉衣穿了20 多年，袖口破了，棉花鼓出來，見我們看著破口，她連忙把棉花塞進去。

“沒有什么能比畫畫更讓我開心了，每當畫畫的時候，我的內(nèi)心就像水一樣平靜?！崩先苏f。

身患重病之后 還有一個心愿

楊祖芬老人的畫多是鄉(xiāng)野農(nóng)趣、自然風光和生活中最平凡的畫面，看了讓人感到非常的恬靜和溫暖。

她沒有學過畫，甚至不知道在哪里落款，但作畫對她而言沒有難處。“我畫畫的時候沒有委屈沒有難過，想怎么畫就怎么畫，當我不開心的時候我就不畫了。”

去年11月，楊祖芬在武漢同濟醫(yī)院被確診為肺癌晚期，發(fā)病的時候渾身疼痛，無法翻身。因為這個原因，她好些時候沒正經(jīng)拿過畫筆了。

沒有人告訴她，得了癌癥后生命還有多長?！凹胰瞬惶?，我也不問，這次生病又讓家里欠了債?！彼稍诩依锏呐f沙發(fā)里，臉面對著窗外的太陽，“我也活了這么長了，該經(jīng)歷的都經(jīng)歷了，能找到自己一生的愛好，我已經(jīng)覺得很幸福了。”

談到此處，她突然來了興致，執(zhí)意要畫上一幅畫，但是手不停地抖，很難控制。她也沒有放棄，隨意幾筆勾勒出熟悉的老水牛和枯

樹?！熬褪钱嫷缴谋M頭，我也要堅持下去。”

“如果說，還有什么愿望的話，那就是辦一次畫展，就在鎮(zhèn)上的學校里，給我一間教室?！崩先苏f，想給孩子們看看她的畫，希望他們能懂：只要堅持自己的愛好走下去，人生會有很多種可能。

“In 1976,I was 22 years old and working as a substitute teacher at Tuqiao Elementary School,” Grandma Yang said.“There was a large blackboard at the school,on which I always drew some simple pictures to amuse the children.Sometimes I drew people,sometimes drawings that represented things found in mythical stories.” And that was how she became interested in painting.

Later,Grandma Yang was not awarded an official post of teacher and had to go back to farming.In addition to tending her crops,supporting family,and taking care of children,she kept at her hobby.“At that time,my family was too poor to afford drawing paper.So,I collected the cigarette packets I found discarded on the ground,flipped them over to draw on the white inside with my child’s pencil.”

The buffalo is the animal that appears most of all in Yang’s paintings.Its deep black color,protruding belly,and docile nature fascinate her.Her love for buffalo stems from the deepest and most simple emotions in farmers.“Our farmer ancestors could not do without buffalo.They are the most hard-working animal.As a child,I always wanted to find the best grass for my buffalo,” she laughed.That’s why she always tends to draw more grass under the buffalo’s feet.

A Year of Savings for a Few Simple Mountings

How long was the journey from cigarette packets to art paper?

When they were younger,Yang’s husband was the only one in the family with a regular job as a rural teacher.His entire income went to feed a family of four,pay for children’s education,and take care of his blind mother.Their daughter,Xiong Dandan,recalls that when she was a child,her family could only afford to buy a few kilograms of pork even for the biggest events like the Spring Festival.Relatives would not stay for dinner while paying them the New Year visit,to avoid putting extra financial burdens on their family.

Back then,Yang chopped wood in the mountains and picked up pine needles and mushrooms which could be sold at the market.Occasionally when she got a bit of extra money,she would buy herself some art paper and cut one sheet into four,“to draw three more pictures.”

Her husband,Xiong Qifa,could not understand why she insisted on painting,given the family’s financial difficulties.“Painting costs money,and a family like ours cannot afford it,” Xiong told reporters that their family had to borrow money for children’s tuition fees and later marriage expenses,all of which had only just recently been paid off.

The couple once had a conflict.Xiong needed a minor surgery and set aside RMB 3,000 yuan for it.Later when he saw his wife mounting 13 paintings,he thought she had misappropriated the money set aside for his operation.He was so blinded by anger that he burned a large stack of her paintings.Yet in fact,the money for mounting paintings was the money she had been saving for a whole year.

In order to buy painting materials,Yang rarely bought anything for herself.She had worn the same green cotton-padded coat for more than 20 years until its cuffs ripped open and showed the cotton inside.Seeing that we have noticed it,she hurriedly tucked the cotton back in.

“Nothing makes me happier than painting.Whenever I paint,an indescribable peace fills my heart,” she said.

One More Wish After Diagnosed with Cancer

Grandma Yang’s paintings are mostly about simple rural life,from scenes of natural landscapes to farmland,all of which are full of peace and solitude as well as warmth and grace.

She never formally learned how to paint and doesn’t even know where to sign her own name.Yet painting is not difficult for her.“I feel happy and relaxed when I paint.I can paint whatever I want.I stop painting when I don’t feel like going on.”

In November last year,Grandma Yang was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer at Wuhan Tongji Hospital.She is in so much pain whenever she has a flare-up of the disease that she can’t even turn over in bed.Because of this,she hasn’t touched her paintbrush for quite some time.

No one told her how long she still could live.“My family never talks about it,and I’ve never asked them.My disease adds more to our family debt.” She sighed,as she lay on the old sofa at home,looking at the sun outside the window,“I have lived so long and experienced so much.I’m very happy to be able to find the hobby of my life.”

Out of the blue,she got into the mood and insisted on drawing a picture one day.Despite the difficulty to control her shaking hands,she kept going and sketched out the familiar old buffalo and dead tree in a few strokes.“I’ll keep on painting to the day I go to my end.”

“If you ask me whether I’ve got any more wishes,the answer is ‘yes.’ And that is to have an exhibition of my paintings in the school of the town,if they can give me a classroom,” Grandma Yang said.She wants to show her paintings to the children,hoping they would understand that if one sticks to their interests and never gives up,the world is sure to be their oyster.(Translation:Lu Qiongyao)