文 / 陳 野

西湖與荷花歷來有著不解之緣，兩宋時(shí)期尤為突出，詩詞書畫皆有豐富的表現(xiàn)。蘇東坡泛舟西湖時(shí)淺唱低吟“菰蒲無邊水茫茫，荷花夜開風(fēng)露香”，柳永名作《望海潮》里寫盡了“十里荷花”“釣叟蓮?fù)蕖钡腻X塘繁華。楊萬里的“畢竟西湖六月中，風(fēng)光不與四時(shí)同。接天蓮葉無窮碧，映日荷花別樣紅”，陸游的“六月芙蕖正盛時(shí)，畫船長記醉題詩。世間好景元無盡，霜落荷枯又一奇”，都是對(duì)西湖六月夏荷的絕好描寫。高季迪所作《西湖夏夜觀荷詩》寫道：“雨晴南浦錦云稠，晚待湖平蕩槳游?？窨团d來惟載酒，小娃歌遠(yuǎn)不驚鷗。半湖月色偏宜夜，十里荷香已欲秋。為愛前沙好涼景，滿身風(fēng)露未回舟?！边@是游人于夏末秋初之月夜泛舟湖上花間的生動(dòng)寫照，寫出了西湖的荷花、月色與宋人日常生活的密切關(guān)聯(lián)。

在這里，荷花無疑是借重了西湖的盛名而贏得詩人們的反復(fù)吟詠，它的美是離不開西湖的。但是，荷花又未嘗不為西湖添色呢？我們從湖邊細(xì)細(xì)地看進(jìn)湖去，沒有荷花的西湖，在水天一色的一覽無余中，畢竟還是少了些許韻味，荷花在西湖的波心里盛開，洋溢出一湖的美麗燦爛。明人田汝成說：“西湖夏夜觀荷最宜，風(fēng)露舒涼，清香徐細(xì)。傍花淺酌，如對(duì)美人倩笑款語也?！保ā段骱斡[志余》）這樣的情致，怕是西湖所獨(dú)有吧？

與“疏影橫斜”的梅花一樣，荷花同樣有著與湖水、與月影的妙相承合。如果說梅花給予西湖的是綽約的風(fēng)姿、凜然的清氣和不朽的風(fēng)骨，那么搖曳涌動(dòng)在晶瑩波光里的荷花，則以其與湖水艇舟的交融，而為西湖增添了無限的靈動(dòng)和生機(jī)。南宋詞人周密曾對(duì)西湖花影有深深的迷戀 ：“正滿湖，碎月?lián)u花，怎生去得？”這個(gè)“碎月?lián)u花”的西湖，在我們看來，正是宋月澄澈、綠荷風(fēng)動(dòng)、紅蓮玉立、清香四溢的一片美麗汀渚。

荷花是歷代西湖繪畫的主要題材之一。翻檢畫史，以南宋為例，就有眾多的以荷花為題材的畫作。如馮大有的《太液荷風(fēng)圖》、舊標(biāo)為馬興祖作的《疏荷沙鳥圖》、傳為吳炳的《出水芙蓉圖》、馬麟的《荷香消夏圖》、梁楷的《芙蓉水鳥圖》、法常的《荷葉圖》，以及大量目前被認(rèn)為是宋代佚名之作的《蓮塘泛艇圖》《鹡鴒荷葉圖》《疏荷沙鳥圖》《荷塘鸂鶒圖》《荷蟹圖》《晚荷郭索圖》《荷塘按樂圖》《荷花圖》《荷塘鹡鴒圖》《荷塘浴鳧圖》《荷塘飛燕圖》《高閣觀荷圖》《荷亭嬰戲圖》《蓮池水禽圖》等。

南宋·馬麟 《荷香消夏圖》。Whiling Away Summer amid Lotus Fragrance. Painting by Ma Lin (Southern Song).

南宋·吳炳《出水芙蓉圖》。故宮博物院藏Hibiscus Rising out of Water, a painting by Wu Bing (Southern Song).Collected at the Palace Museum.

在西湖荷花圖中，工筆與水墨兩種傳統(tǒng)的繪畫方式都有不俗的表現(xiàn)，均有精美的傳世佳作出現(xiàn)。

工筆花鳥畫是南宋畫院藝術(shù)成就的一個(gè)重要方面，傳為吳炳所畫的《出水芙蓉圖》，則是其中十分著名的代表作品。

據(jù)《圖繪寶鑒》記載：“吳炳，毗陵人。工畫花鳥，寫生折枝可奪造化，彩繪精致富麗。光宗、李后多愛其畫，恩賚甚厚。紹興間畫院待詔，賜金帶?！?/p>

從吳炳現(xiàn)存的《竹雀圖》《嘉禾草蟲圖》《竹蟲圖》等作品來看，《圖繪寶鑒》所言非虛，吳炳所繪花鳥確是精工細(xì)致，栩栩如生?！冻鏊饺貓D》（紈扇，絹本，設(shè)色，23.8×25厘米，藏北京故宮博物院）以工筆設(shè)色畫折枝荷花，畫面以一朵燦爛開放的荷花為主體，配飾舒展的荷葉，筆墨細(xì)致入微，十分精確地畫出了荷花與荷葉的紋理和質(zhì)感；設(shè)色清麗雅致，將粉色荷花和綠色荷葉的不同色彩層次，都作了恰如其分的渲染表現(xiàn)。造型準(zhǔn)確、自然、生動(dòng)，格調(diào)清新脫俗，極具宮廷花鳥畫精致工麗的美感。

於子明的《蓮池水禽圖》對(duì)幅（絹本，設(shè)色，各122×75厘米，藏日本京都知恩院），被日本定為“重要文化財(cái)”，在2018年4月東京國立博物館舉辦的《名作誕生—緊密相連的日本美術(shù)》展中曾有展出?！渡彸厮輬D》雖也是工筆的畫法，布局表現(xiàn)出不同于《出水芙蓉圖》的豐富靈動(dòng)。一幅畫中有多枝荷花與荷葉錯(cuò)落有致，亭亭玉立于水中，水中有水鳥游動(dòng)，荷花開至極盛而至花瓣略有飄落，渲染出秋意漸起的時(shí)間流逝；另一幅則表現(xiàn)了風(fēng)中之荷的動(dòng)感，畫面富有古典繪畫的裝飾趣味，典麗雅致。

南宋理宗、度宗時(shí)，西湖長慶寺里有一位僧人法常（生卒年不詳），號(hào)牧溪，“喜畫龍、虎、猿、鶴、禽鳥、山水、樹石、人物。不曾設(shè)色，多用蔗渣、草汁，又皆隨筆點(diǎn)墨而成，意思簡當(dāng)，不費(fèi)妝綴。松竹梅蘭，不具形似；鷺荷、蘆雁，俱有高致?！保ㄔ獏翘?《松齋梅譜》）這種畫風(fēng)被稱為寫意花鳥作品，以簡潔寫意的筆墨取勝，皴染兼用，筆墨滋潤。畫面都只寥寥數(shù)筆，卻以精到的筆墨畫出花木鳥禽的形象，形簡神備，灑脫自然，栩栩如生。明代著名畫家沈周稱其畫“不施彩色，任意墨瀋，儼然若生，回視黃筌、舜舉之流風(fēng)斯下矣”；鑒藏家項(xiàng)元汴認(rèn)為“其狀物寫生，殆出天巧，不惟肖似形類，并得其意”，清代畫家查士標(biāo)評(píng)論其為“有天然運(yùn)用之妙，無刻劃拘板之勞”，都給予了極高的評(píng)價(jià)。從創(chuàng)作方面來看，明清花鳥畫家沈周、陳淳、徐渭、朱耷，都受到過他的影響。

法常作品流傳在日本的很多，對(duì)日本產(chǎn)生重大影響，甚至被評(píng)為“日本畫道的大恩人”。法常是南宋高僧無準(zhǔn)禪師的“法嗣”，他和當(dāng)時(shí)日本派來中國學(xué)佛法的圣一國師是同門。圣一在宋理宗淳佑元年（1241）回國時(shí)帶去法常作品《觀音圖》《猿》《鶴》，至今仍珍藏在東京大德寺，被稱為“國寶”。

日本根津美術(shù)館里，收藏有一幅法常的《荷葉圖》軸（紙本，設(shè)色，35.4×49.4厘米），是一幅水墨寫意的佳作。作品以簡潔的水墨在畫的右半邊畫了一張碩大的荷葉，沒有任何細(xì)致的刻畫，只有粗略的勾勒和渲染，卻有荷的清氣與風(fēng)韻從水墨與線條中散發(fā)而出，正是沈周所云“不施彩色，任意墨瀋，儼然若生”的風(fēng)格。

從法常開始，大葉大花的純水墨荷花圖成為一種常見的表現(xiàn)形式。循著這個(gè)傳統(tǒng)發(fā)展下來，在西湖邊的畫家里，可以發(fā)現(xiàn)有許多名家都畫過類似的題材。例如元代的孫君澤，當(dāng)代的潘天壽、陸抑非，都畫過以荷花、荷葉寫西湖美景的畫作。

周邦彥的《愛蓮說》寫的是荷花的高潔自愛，“出淤泥而不染，濯清漣而不妖”。在佛教的世界里，蓮是有佛家法味的，她的香、凈、柔軟、可愛，被稱為“四德”。是一種潔凈無染的境界。而西湖的荷花，以及西湖的荷花圖，給予我們的，則更多的是俗世的熱烈和歡愉。湖中的荷花蓮葉，亭亭玉立在游魚、野鴨、水鳥、鷗鷺、螃蟹、蜻蜓、水閣、汀渚的世界里，伴隨著驕陽、明月、輕風(fēng)、細(xì)雨，在夏日的晴空里綻放著清新潔凈的綠霏紅霧，為人們帶來了清心消暑的清涼。而湖面水底盎然流動(dòng)的水禽生意，則展現(xiàn)出一個(gè)意趣豐盈的自然世界，生命在此自由生長，時(shí)間在此周回往復(fù)。宋人以其高華風(fēng)致、雅正審美造就的蓮湖時(shí)空，古意絢爛，清韻綿長。

A Picture of Lotus and the Moon in the Lake in the Song Dynasty

By Chen Ye

淥池擢素。吳瑩崗/攝Lotus flower. Photo by Wu Yinggang.

The West Lake and lotus flowers are always indissolubly related, especially in the Song dynasty (960-1279), when poetry,calligraphy and painting had rich expressions of them together.Su Dongpo, Liu Yong, Yang Wanli and Lu You wrote excellent descriptions of summer lotus of the West Lake in June. The poem written by Gao Jidi is a vivid portrayal of tourists boating on the lake under the moon by night in late summer and early autumn,displaying the affinity between lotus flowers, moonlight of the West Lake and the daily life of people living in the Song Dynasty.

Undoubtedly, the fame of lotus flowers arose from the West Lake and their beauty is inseparable from it. However, lotus flowers also contribute beauty to the West Lake. The West Lake without lotus would lack some aroma while with them it is a pool of beauty. Tian Rucheng’s words prove that he had a special and unique feeling about night lotus on the West Lake.

Like plum blossoms that “slant their shadow”, lotus flowers have a wonderful correspondence with the lake and the moon’s shadow. If plum blossoms give the West Lake a graceful posture,an awe-inspiring clarity and an immortal character, then lotus flowers swaying in the sparkling waves add infinite agility and vitality to the West Lake for their fusion with the lake and boats.The Song poet Zhou Mi was fascinated by the flower shadow of the West Lake: “When the lake is full, the flowers shake against the shattered moon shadow. How can it be left alone?” This lake scene,in our opinion, is a beautiful picture with its green lotus leaves, red lotus flowers, and delicate fragrance under the bright moon.

The lotus flower has been one of the major subjects of the West Lake painting. Looking back at the history of painting and taking the Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279) as an example,we have many paintings with lotus flowers as their theme. For example, Feng Dayou, Ma Xingzu, Wu Bin, Ma Lin, Liang Kai,Fachang and many anonymous Song painters produced thousands of paintings of lotus flowers.

The traditional meticulous and ink-and-wash methods of painting have been productive in terms of exquisite lotus flowers in the West Lake. Meticulous flower-and-bird masterpieces represented an important aspect of the artistic achievements of the Southern Song Painting Academy.painted by Wu Bing is one of the most famous representative works.According to the, “Wu Bing was born in Biling county. His excellent skills in meticulous flower-andbird painting and sketched branches won the favor of Emperor Guangzong and Empress Li and later he was appointed as an assistant at the Painting Academy endowed with a gold belt. ”

Judging from Wu Bing’s extant works such as,, and, what is said in theis true.(fan format on silk, colored, 23.8 *25 cm, collected in Beijing’s Palace Museum) accurately represented the texture of lotus, with a brilliant open lotus flower against extended lotus leaves. The colors are clear and elegant, with different color ranges of pink lotus and green leaves. The shape is accurate, natural, vivid and fresh, with the exquisite beauty.

Yu Ziming’s(on silk, colored,122 * 75 cm, collected in Kyoto Chion-in Temple) is designated as an “important cultural property” in Japan and was exhibited in the exhibitionheld by Tokyo National Museum in April 2018. The layout of this painting shows a rich and flexible difference from. It is a painting of multiple lotus flowers and leaves in water, with birds moving. The lotus flowers fall slightly, showing the passing of time and the coming autumn, while the latter shows the dynamic lotus in the wind, full of elegance.

During the Southern Song dynasty, there was a monk called Fachang in Changqing Temple near the West Lake, who “l(fā)iked to paint dragons, tigers, apes, cranes, birds, landscapes, trees and stones, and figures.” He used bagasse and grass juice as ink with simple brush strokes and no embellishment. His plants and birds were high-minded without fixed forms. This style of painting is called freehand flower-and-bird, concise, simple, free, natural and lifelike. Shen Zhou, a famous painter of the Ming dynasty(1368-1644), connoisseur Xiang Yuanbian and Zha Shibiao, a painter in the Qing dynasty (1616-1911), gave a high evaluation of his paintings. In the light of his creation, the Ming and Qing flower and bird painters Shen Zhou, Chen Chun, Xu Wei, and Zhu Da were influenced by him. Many of Fachang’s works have been collected in Japan, with a major influence in Japan, and he has even been named “the great benefactor of Japanese painting”.Fachang and Enni Ben’en (also known as Shōichi Kokushi) who was sent from Japan to China to study Buddhism shared the same master. Fachang’s works, andwas taken to Japan in 1241, and collected in Tokyo as “national treasures”.

In Nezu Museum of Art in Japan, there is a masterpiece of ink freehand calledpainted by Fa Chang (on paper,colored, 35. 4*49.4 cm), with a huge lotus leaf on the right half of the painting with concise ink and wash, without any detailed depiction but rough outline and rendering, but there is the clear air and charm of the lotus emanating from the ink and lines, in Shen Zhou’s style of “no color, free ink, like life”.

Thelotus flower with big leaf in pure ink and wash became a common form of expression in the age of Fachang. You can find similar subjects among the painters by the West Lake, e.g. Sun Junze of the Yuan dynasty (1206-1368), and our contemporary Pan Tianshou and Lu Yifei.

“On the Love of Lotus” written by Zhou Bangyan is about the high self-love of lotus flowers out of the mud without getting stained. In the Buddhist world, the lotus has the taste of Buddhism, and her fragrance, purity, softness, and loveliness are called the four virtues in Buddhism, which is a state of purity.The lotus flowers in the West Lake, as well as the paintings of them give us more of the warmth and joy of the world. The lotus,standing in the world of swimming fish, wild ducks, water birds,gulls, crabs, dragonflies, water pavilions, accompanied by the sun, the bright moon, light wind and drizzle, brings us a sense of cooling. A natural world of underwater animals appears, where life grows freely and time goes back and forth. The time and space of lotus created by the Song people with its unique style and elegant aesthetics, splendid in ancient meaning, last forever.

（傳）宋·黃居寀《白蓮》（局部）。臺(tái)北故宮博物院藏White Lotus (partial), a painting by Huang Jucai (Song).Collected at the Palace Museum in Taipei.