China's last bow maker struggles to keep 4,500-year-old craft alive

中国弓箭制作的最后传人

by Peter Harmsen

AFP

Fri Feb 2, 10:11 AM ET

1945年10月7日，毛泽东写下了“一代天骄，成吉思汗，只识弯弓射大雕。俱往矣，数风流人物，还看今朝”的豪壮词句。12年后，金庸先生的第一部“超级长篇小说”《射雕英雄传》1957年至1959年连载于香港《商报》。1980年广州《武林》杂志首次连载了《射雕英雄传》，金庸武侠小说首次正式进入大陆，声名大噪。1983年，黄日华、翁美龄主演的同名香港电视剧上演，《射雕英雄传》主人公郭靖弯弓射大雕的壮士形象更是深入人心，而作为古代冷兵器的代表，弓箭也贯穿了小说主题全线而引人瞩目。

中国制作传统弓箭的技艺由来已久，并且在中国古籍中有较多记载。传统弓箭是冷兵器中最具杀伤力的射远武器之一，也是古人们举行“射礼”的工具，且是武举考试中最重要的一项内容。但是到了晚清，随着近代火器的引进，弓箭渐渐失去了射远武器的主导地位，在民间的制作使用也日渐衰微，20世纪30年代，在蔡元培先生的倡导下，当时的中央研究院和中央博物院的多位学者对东北，西南，台湾等地的民间艺术和手工业开展了调查研究，其中谭旦冏先生于1942年在成都调查传统弓箭的制作方法时写道：“"近年来，全中国制造弓箭的地方，是仅有北平和成都。”在谭旦冏调查完不久，成都的最后一个弓箭铺“长兴弓箭铺”在1942年左右迫于日本的空袭而停业。

位于北京朝阳区团结湖水利局宿舍大院里的“聚元号”弓箭小作坊是目前北京惟一完整保存传统制作工艺的弓箭铺，也许也是中国唯一的一个专业弓箭制造作坊。这个占地面积仅有十几平米的作坊是老艺人杨文通(满族，1931—)先生和他的三儿子杨福喜(满族，1958—)于1998年租借并改建的。杨文通与其兄长杨文鑫(满族，1926-1969年)等同是清朝末年原北京弓箭大院(位于今日北京东四南大街)里有名的“聚元号”弓箭铺的店主。“聚元号”弓箭铺在清末到民国初年变成自主经营的作坊，20世纪50年代又经历手工业改造，公私合营，并入北京体育用品厂，“文化大革命”期间进一步衰落，但其昔日的主人仍健在，并正在为保持这一传统手艺继续后传而努力。历经三百多年，通过近十代店主的努力，“聚元号”弓箭铺制作弓箭的技艺得以保存下来。

杨文通的三儿子杨福喜从小生活在弓箭铺，耳濡目染，对弓箭制作很有兴趣。不过，他参加工作后，从当木工到开出租车，二十多年来一直无暇向其父亲学习这门手艺。1998年后，在杨文通的鼓动和协助下，他放弃了开出租的工作，向父亲学习制作传统弓箭，并有意以此开发市场，合作创办一个弓箭娱乐活动场所，但最后未能如愿，此合作在筹备并运营了一年后便无法再继续下去了。虽然这次经营活动很快终止，但却是日后杨福喜下定决心要学会并保持这门手艺的契机，同时，这也是一次筹备各种制作工具的过程，历经五十多年的变故，除两张旧弓外，原“聚元号”的上百种制作工具都荡然无存，杨福喜在其家属院里租借到了一间小的平房作为制弓箭场地，在其父亲的指导下，全心投入到学习制作，并积累了制作好弓的经验，经过三四年的学习和实践，他的制作弓箭手艺已很娴熟，目前已成为中国弓箭制作的唯一传人。“聚元号”弓箭铺制作弓箭的传统有幸被传承下来，但这种传统手艺能否被不断地继续下去，仍然令人担忧。杨福喜经过两三年的独自经营，感觉到传统弓箭的市场和前景并不乐观，因此，要使这门传统手艺有效地续下去，还需多方面的努力。

BEIJING (AFP) - Yang Fuxi, China's last known traditional bow and arrow maker, is plying a dying craft and has made it his mission to keep it alive.

One man against the crushing forces of modernity, the 48-year-old Beijing resident says he owes it to his ancestors and to the Chinese nation as a whole.

"I feel a responsibility towards history. A huge responsibility," he said as he sat on a stool in his small cramped workshop in a corner of a residential compound. "I know I have to do it as well as I can."

As he explains his craft, he draws on the encyclopedic knowledge accumulated by more than 100 generations of bow makers.

"A good bow should be made from Jiangsu bamboo, and should be reinforced at the ends by elm wood," he said. "It will stay flexible, at least north of the Yangtze river, where humidity is lower."

The traditional Chinese bow reached a stage of near-perfection as early as the mid-third millennium BC, according to Yang, and was in continuous use until the end of the Qing dynasty (1644 to 1911), the last in imperial history.

Then the ancient craft disappeared virtually overnight, as 20th century weapons technology forced itself upon a backward-looking China, leaving no one to carry on the long tradition of archery.

"Its 4,500 years of uninterrupted history would have come to an end if I hadn't succeeded in carrying it on," said Yang, a proud smile flashing across his thickly bearded face.

Yang is keenly aware of his background, hailing from an old bow-making family of ethnic Manchus, people who conquered China on horseback in the middle of the 17th century.

The 10th owner of his business, Ju Yuan Hao, he represents a link connecting the ancient trade to the future, but he readily concedes that link almost broke.

During the early days of communist rule, Yang's father was ordered to stop making bows as it was considered a wasteful occupation in a time of dire material need. Instead he spent the rest of his working life repairing furniture.

When it was time for Yang to choose a profession, he thought it safer to become a carpenter, a politically correct choice at the time but still not one that brought him satisfaction. Later he drove taxis.

"When I was 40 I decided to turn to making bows and asked my father to teach me," said Yang. "Everything I know, I learned from him."

Now Yang is in demand as he is believed to be China's last bow maker, and his skills were recently celebrated in a profile on national television.

Yang's customers, who pay 3,800 yuan (490 dollars) for a bow, are evenly divided between foreigners and Chinese.

Some of his customers are experienced archers like himself -- but few appreciate just how much time and effort goes into making a bow.

It is an assignment that cannot be rushed, and a craftsman using traditional methods will need at least a year to complete one bow, Yang explains.

"The back of the bow has to be strengthened with layers of ox sinew," he said. "Once a layer of ox sinew has been glued onto the bow, you have to wait at least a week before gluing on the next layer."

Yang learned his patience from his father, and is not sure it exists in a younger generation addicted to the fast pace of modern life.

Bow making is grueling and sometimes just plain dull, and while Yang has had a series of would-be apprentices, he says he had to let them go before he could teach them the secrets of his trade.

"It's a big problem finding a successor. But I've still got time to wait for a person with the right character," he said.

"My son is 19, and he'd like to become the one. But he belongs to a privileged generation that's not used to the hardship my generation took for granted."

While Yang is keeping an open mind as he looks for someone to carry on the tradition, there is only one general precondition as he sifts through potential candidates: his successor must be male.

"I'd say a woman can handle about one third of the tasks," he said.

"They can put the arrows together or paint the final set. But the hard physical work of building the bow is for men, I'm afraid."

背景知识

1． One man against the crushing forces of modernity, the 48-year-old Beijing resident says he owes it to his ancestors and to the Chinese nation as a whole.独自一人面对势不可挡的现代化步伐，这位48岁的北京居民表示，为了他的祖先，为了整个中华民族，他必须坚持下去。crushing：毁灭性的，难以承受的，势不可挡的。owe it to somebody to do something：认为应该（有必要）为某人做某事。

2． A good bow should be made from Jiangsu bamboo。制作上等的弓必须使用产子江苏的竹子。不过，有关专家称，做弓用的竹子多产自江西省，因为那里产的竹子比较粗壮，结实耐用。选材时通常以敲打竹子听其声音是否清实的方法来评价竹子的好坏，最好选用采伐后经过一年阴干的竹子，竹子上下两端粗细不匀或中间部位有虫眼的都不能用于做弓。本新闻原文中提到是江苏，估计是外国记者混淆了江苏和江西这两个名称的发音。

3． The back of the bow has to be strengthened with layers of ox sinew：弓的背面必须用几层牛腱加固。ox sinew：牛腱。这里其实应该是“牛筋”，而之所以写成“牛腱”恐怕又是外国记者在采访时的误解，因为中国传统弓的之所以使用的材料通常是竹子、牛角、牛筋和鳔。关于竹子，见注视3。一张弓要用两只牛角。且要选用长度在60公分以上的水牛角。牛筋是制作弓体中非常重要的弹性材料。取自牛背上紧靠牛脊梁骨的那块筋。“鳔”是弓箭师傅们对粘贴各种材料所用的动物胶的称呼，它是弓箭行业里非常关键的材料，一张弓所用鳔的份量很大，常有“一张弓4两鳔的说法”，而且，鳔的质量好坏也是直接影响做弓质量的关键因素之一，弓箭行业中最早使用的是鱼鳔，因为鱼鳔是非常好的粘贴材料。不过，鱼鳔虽是弓箭制作行业中首选的粘合胶，但现在多用猪皮鳔，按杨福喜的说法，鱼鳔不用快一百年了。杨福喜说，现在所用的猪皮鳔还有一段发明的历史。在弓箭大院里的一次聚会时，一位伙计爱吃猪肉但不爱吃猪皮，他就将猪皮吐在桌面上。等第二天人们收拾桌子时，发现猪皮非常坚固地粘贴在桌子上。由此，一位姓齐的伙计萌发了用猪皮熬制猪皮鳔的方法，没想到经过尝试还真成功了。于是，他把做出的猪皮鳔分送到各个弓箭铺免费试用，等他们觉得可用后再付钱。这种方式也被杨福喜家所沿用，制作时先将猪皮用碱水洗净，再用温火煮，煮到用筷子轻轻一点能穿透为宜，然后再把它放在铁锅里捣烂，继续熬，最后过滤其中的渣滓及硬质，阴干，切成条即可，使用时可按要求调节浓度。

Chinas last bow maker