The Skillful Craftsmen in Lingnan · The Guardians of Ancient Buildings | The Creators of Colorful Roof Ridges out of Lime
开篇语：
一砖一瓦，皆寓岭南文化精髓。广州2200多年的建城史，留存下众多岭南古建筑，它们是城市凝固的历史、流淌的乡愁。
Preface:
Each brick and tile embody the exact essence of Lingnan culture. Many lingnan ancient buildings have been preserved in in Guangzhou during a history of more than 2,200 years since the founding of this city. Those buildings have been standing as the condensed historic essence and the everlasting nostalgia.
一座座岭南建筑，历经百年风霜，依旧熠熠生辉，向今人传递着当年的生产力水准、社会文化与审美取向。
Those Lingnan buildings, one after another, are still shining and sparkling after one century of vicissitudes. They reveal the productivity level, social culture and aesthetic orientation of the time period when they were built.
是谁赋予它们不朽的生命力，搭起古与今的连接？匠人匠心也。
Then, who have been endowing them with such an eternal life and constructing such a bridge between the past and the present? Those craftsmen with ingenuity have.
“让城市留下记忆，让人们记住乡愁”，传承弘扬岭南建筑文化，离不开一群群独具匠心的古建修缮人，他们是岭南古建守护者之一。匠人之气，发乎于心，寄乎于手。他们穷其一生娴于一技，灵巧的手指、粗粝的关节、厚实的手掌……一双双手诠释匠人的一生，赋予建筑新生，守护城市记忆。
“So that history and hometown memory can take roots in people’s minds.” The craftsmanship comes from the heart of skillful craftsmen and are accomplished by their hands. It takes those craftsmen a lifetime to be adept in this skill. With dexterous fingers, coarse joints and thick palms, those hands have interpreted the whole life of those craftsmen, who inject new life to those old buildings and safeguard the memory of this city.
即日起，广州日报策划推出“巧手筑岭南·古建守护人”系列报道，走访灰塑、满洲窗、砖瓦作、砖雕、壁画、砖瓦烧造、花阶砖、水刷石等工种匠人，以匠人之“手”，讲述岭南建筑匠人匠心故事，留住乡愁记忆。
From this day, Guangzhou Daily plans to launch a series of reports on “The Skillful Craftsmen in Lingnan · The Guardians of Ancient Buildings”. We are going to visit the craftsmen engaging in lime figurine, Manchurian window, brick and tile masonry, brick carving, fresco, brick and tile firing, encaustic tile, granitic plaster and other types of construction work. By virtue of the “hands of craftsmen”, we will tell the stories on those craftsmen and craftsmanship in Lingnan architecture and preserve the memory of nostalgia.
灰塑匠人：以手中灰白，塑屋脊缤纷
Lime figurine artisan: The creators of colorful roof ridges out of lime.
它们历经百年风雨而屹立不倒，无声地讲述着引人入胜的岭南故事。这些灰塑作品背后，是一群默默无闻的屋顶匠人——灰塑修缮匠人。他们与石灰、风吹、日晒为伴，在寂寂的高处，修复出令人仰望的风景。
Those lime figurines have been standing unimpaired through one century of wind and rain, silently telling the fascinating stories about Lingnan. Behind these works is a group of humble roofers, the lime figurine artisans. Working with corrosive lime, piercing wind and scorching sun, they renovate the breathtaking scenery overhead silently.
近日，记者采访了两位灰塑名匠，国家级非遗传承人邵成村、市级非遗传承人崔镜兴，走近他们用双手为岭南建筑添彩的人生。
Recently, our journalists interviewed two well-respected lime figurine craftsmen, Shao Chengcun, the inheritor of national intangible cultural heritage, and Cui Jingxing, the inheritor of municipal intangible cultural heritage. We will have a close look at the lives of both artisans who have contributed to the colorful Lingnan architecture with both hands.
近日，广州荔湾区永庆坊，游人如织。在一处巷口工架上，国家级非遗传承人邵成村完全忘却脚下的热闹，全心投入灰塑制作中。
Yongqing Fang at Liwan District of Guangzhou City have welcomed a massive influx of visitors recently. On the scaffold at an entrance to the lane, Shao Chengcun, an inheritor of national intangible cultural heritage, devoted himself to lime figurine and completely forgot the noisy spectacle under his feet.
“灰塑最常用的材料就是石灰，我这双手摸石灰几十年了，只是皮肤粗糙些，不打紧！”邵成村乐呵呵地说。
“Lime works as the most commonly material for lime figurine. My hands have been touching the lime for decades but everything is just fine except for my rough skin.” Shao Chengcun smiled.
邵成村善于从老一辈灰塑匠人的作品中“取经”。“瓦檐狮子有动有静，有的和善安逸，有的怒目圆瞪，变化多端。每一件灰塑作品都有自己的性格，绝不会千物一面。”如今，邵成村已经摸透了瓦脊上每种鸟兽的脾性。这些作品的无声传授，让邵成村更深刻地领悟了灰塑艺术，触摸到前人的匠心，并将这些精髓吸纳为己所用。
Mr. Shao is good at “fetch the scriptures on his profession” from the works by precedent lime figurine artisans. “Those lions on the tiled eaves look both restless and quiet. Some of them may appear gentle and quietly nice while others may look glared and furious. Their facial expressions and forms are varied. Each lime figurine has its own disposition and there will never be one facial expression for all.” By now, Mr. Shao has grasped the temperament of each kind of bird and beast on the tile ridge. The silent impartation from those works allows Mr. Shao to develop an in-depth understanding of lime figurine artistry, touch the ingenuity of his predecessors, and absorb the essence for his own use.
邵成村说，以最普遍的石灰为主要材料塑造出来的灰塑，能在户外经历风吹雨淋几百年而屹立不倒，还解决了岭南地区湿热天气之下古建筑防热、防雨、防潮、防风、防虫等难题。
According to Mr. Shao, lime figurine is mainly made from the most common lime. Such artwork can not only withstand the wind and rain out of doors for centuries but also solve a series of difficulties in heat, rain, moisture, wind, insects and other damages encountered by ancient buildings in Lingnan area under the hot and humid weather.
走进广东四大名园之一的余荫山房，稍一抬头，屋脊、照壁、门墙楣、楹联、花盒、花基、落水管道上，灰塑无处不在。在这里，有一位匠人凭借自己的双手，40年来守护着余荫山房满园灰塑。1982年崔镜兴就承担起“守护人”角色。
When entering Yuyin Shanfang, one of the four famous gardens in Guangdong Province, visitors will find lime figurines everywhere, such as roof ridge, screen wall facing the gate of a mansion, door head, couplets, flower boxes, green belts and flight sewers. There is a craftsman who has been guarding those lime figurines in the Yuyin Shanfang for 40 years with his own hands. In 1982, Cui Jingxing assumed the role of “lime figurine guardian”.
常年在建筑物上修复灰塑，崔镜兴的脸上写满风霜。“好天就晒，下雨就淋，尤其是夏天，瓦片被火辣的太阳晒得发烫，一定要耐得住辛苦。”崔镜兴把40年的露天屋顶劳作一语概之，“学习灰塑没什么诀窍，最重要的是日积月累，熟能生巧。”
Mr. Cui looks pretty rough in his face due to years of lime figurine renovation on the top of buildings. “I have been basking in the sun and rain. Especially in summer, tiles are burning hot in the scorching sun. Nevertheless, I must be able to withstand the hard work if I want to do a great job,” Mr. Cui summarized his 40 years of roofing in the open, “There is no silver bullet for lime figurine study. The most important know-how is to accumulate over a long period as practice makes perfect.”
广东省文物保护专家委员会委员欧阳仑告诉记者，目前，广东从事灰塑的工匠约有200人，主要分布在广州、江门及肇庆地区，其中能独当一面的大工匠有50多人，他们能独立胜任批塑圆雕、半浮雕灰塑制作；其余的只能做一些纹饰或者辅助性工作。随着工匠老去，又缺乏年轻人加入，整个灰塑工匠群体面临“青黄不接”。
There are currently about 200 craftsmen engaged in lime figurine in Guangdong and they are mainly distributed in Guangzhou, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing, according to Ouyang Lun, a member of the Expert Committee of Cultural Relics Protection of Guangdong Province. Among them, there are over 50 master craftsmen capable of making circular engravure and mezzo-relievo lime figurines alone; the rest of those artisans can only assume decorative or auxiliary tasks. The whole lime figurine craftsman group is in great need of hands due to the aging craftsmen and a lack of young successors.
“作为非遗传承人，我有责任传承下去。”如今，除了修复灰塑，邵成村把更多时间用于授课，“让灰塑技艺被更多人了解、理解和喜欢。”
“As an inheritor of intangible cultural heritage, it’s my duty to pass this craftsmanship on,” now, in addition to lime figurine renovation, Mr. Shao are spending more time in skill teaching, “So that the art of lime figurine can be known, comprehended and favored by more people.”
来源：广州日报
Source: Guangzhou Daily
统筹/秦晖 肖桂来
Report planning: Qin Hui and Xiao Guilai
作者：肖桂来、吴多、陈钧圣、汤南 、莫伟浓、李波
Author:Xiao Guilai, Wu Duo, Chen Junsheng ,Tang Nan,Mo Weinong and Li Bo
