田世信先生的新作《王者之尊》是中国雕塑界近些年来比较少见的大制作，大手笔；它也是雕塑家在个人创作中，凭借着内心的指引所创作出来的名副其实的“重大历史题材”。并作为一个勤奋不辍，努力探索的雕塑家，田世信先生的《王者之尊》以全新的面目，体现了他四十多年创作生涯中的一个重要变化，他的新作与其说是精心创作了一组有着鲜明特点的人物雕塑，还不如说，通过作品，他有针对性地面对中国雕塑的现状，提出了问题，并尝试着解决这些问题。

　　《王者之尊》以《沁园春·雪》为历史线索，将这首著名词作中所涉及到的中国历史上最著名的五个帝王，加上词作者本人，用雕塑的方式塑造出来，他们是“秦皇”、“汉武”、“唐宗”、“宋祖”、“成吉思汗”、。

　　在历史上，雕塑曾经是一个最擅长表现历史，刻画历史名人的艺术门类。然而近三十年来，中国雕塑在表现对象上的总体趋势是历史名人淡出，市井人物凸显；这种趋势是符合中国社会的现代性转型的逻辑，符合世俗社会的特征的。

　　问题的另一面是，人们并不能因为社会向世俗化方向的转型而放弃对历史的思考。道理很简单，“一切已死的先辈们的传统，象梦魔一样纠缠着活人的头脑。”（1）越是在一个历史感似乎已经消失了的时代，越可能遮蔽历史与现实的因果关系，掩盖历史对现实的深刻影响。

　　今天的雕塑创作如何面对历史，思考历史？雕塑如何表现重大的历史题材？这是田世信先生提出的问题。他的解决方式是，重返历史，以新的观念和视野，重构中国的历史图景。

　　毋庸讳言，《王者之尊》是这些年似乎已经不大流行了的“宏大叙事”，是放弃了小人物，小情趣，生活化之后向重大历史人物的回归。另一方面，这种回归同时也意味着雕塑家对自己真实的内心生活的回归。

　　对田世信先生这样饱经磨难，有着曲折生活经历的雕塑家而言，他对历史，对公共记忆中的政治性的关注度和敏感度或许是常人所难以理解的。在新作中，田世信规避了各种时尚的概念，各种艺术的潮流，正视个人内心的真正需求，尊重个人内心的真实选择，这种态度本身，就是我们对艺术家的创作产生信赖的基础。

　　对历史名人的塑造，也是对历史的再认识；历史题材的创作，总是影响着当下的建构。艺术家在重建个人与历史的关系时，受制于他对于当下现实的认识，他的审美趣味、价值判断决定了他的选择，这种选择将使他摆脱过去历史观的控制。

　　正如历史学家在探讨历史学在20世纪所出现的变化时所说的：“我们对历史的理解在某种程度上是我们理解当下自身的条件，而这种理解也影响到我们对未来的期待。”（2）《王者之尊》中的六位著名历史人物，曾经在历史上登峰造极，雄视天下，是让人景仰或崇拜的对象，今天当他们出现在人们眼前时候，不仅诠释着历史和现实的关系，还表达了对未来暗示和期待。今天，历史的情景变了，观众对历史人物的感受也变了，观众终于有了更大的自主性，从各自不同的角度重建和历史人物的关系。

　　田世信对这几位历史人物的塑造是非常认真的，他收集了大量的历史图像资料，力争做到人物的造型和细节都有历史的依据可寻。尽管如此，历史哲学们所关心的历史“真实”对艺术家而言，仍然只能以艺术家所理解的方式而存在。对观众而言，作品“真实”与否，则取决于建立在艺术家创作的基础上，对历史的再想象。

　　这六位著名的历史人物尽管其个性差异十分突出，但同时作为历史符号，人们似乎可以从中解读到中国历史上几个繁盛时期的不同特征。这些为中国人所耳熟能详的人物，经过这么多年正史的记载，野史的传闻，影视的“戏说”，已经很难为每个人找到一种统一性表述，雕塑家的塑造，其实仍然也是把评说的权力交給了每个观众。至于这几位个性迥异的人物共同使用了制式相同的“龙椅”，似乎体现了作者这样的努力，试图在个别性中寻找一种共同性。

　　观众究竟从每个人物那里看到了什么？这虽然是一个见仁见智的问题，但《王者之尊》所采用的塑造方式，则給观众提供了一种全新的视觉经验，这种看似虽“新”，其实很“旧”的方式，是雕塑界不多见的对中国传统造型方式的挖掘和借鉴，作品在这方面的突破，显然使作品的造型方式和意义内涵之间，获得了高度的统一和协调。

　　《王者之尊》中所采用的是雕塑创作的“中国方式”。田世信先生的这一组历史人物雕塑，包含了他多年来对中国传统造型艺术的研究心得，几乎是一部展现中国传统造型方式的小型“百科全书”。这是一次全面的实验，它涉及到绘画、民间工艺、寺院造像等多个领域。田世信通过不同时代重要历史人物的塑造，大面积的尝试和探讨了传统的民族、民间造型方式在当今雕塑创作中运用的可能性，这种努力也是近些年来所比较少见的。

　　《王者之尊》体现了传统中国绘画和雕塑的密切关系。在历史上，“塑绘不分”、“塑容绘质”是中国雕塑区别于西方的一个重要特点。中国古代并不刻意强调雕塑和绘画在表现形式上的区别，常常表现出与绘画在表现形式上的相同或相似的因素。

　　《王者之尊》运用了很多绘画因素，例如人物服装上的彩绘，就是中国古代雕塑与绘画相互融通的表现。在色彩上，中国古代雕塑讲究“装銮”，一直都有上色的传统，《王者之尊》也充分展示了色彩在雕塑中的魅力。

　　现成品的运用，也是中国古代雕塑的一个传统，在人物道具上，如帽子上的装饰，毛发的一根根植入，这些都是用现成的物品在泥塑中的运用。在雕塑表面，作者除了彩绘，还采用了贴蛋壳（赵匡胤），贴金箔等多种处理方式，这些对传统方式的发掘，使这一组人物呈现出丰富的外表效果。

　　特别应该提到的还有传统“夹紵”像的运用。夹紵像又叫脱胎像、干漆像或者行像。据文献记载，它是由东晋时著名雕塑家戴逵在传统髹漆工艺基础上所创制的。它先用泥塑出人物粗坯，然后糊上麻布、反复涂漆，待干后使泥脱空即成为夹紵像。这种雕塑重量轻，易于搬动，适合当时人们抬佛像游于街衢的需要，因而被称为行像。目前能掌握这种工艺的雕塑家并不多，由于时间原因，《王者之尊》只有两尊雕塑采用了这个工艺，按作者意图，将来全部人物都希望能采用这种方式。

　　由于大量采用传统工艺，加上吸收寺院造像中背景布幔作为人物背景，这一组雕塑整体上形成了一种浓重的传统历史氛围。

　　除了采用传统方式，作者同时也超越传统，做了大量的个人化的探索。例如，人物造型呈金字塔式的结构；人物形体处理中流畅的大块面；衣饰表面不同肌理和质感的处理；尤其精彩的还有“赵匡胤”头冠简洁地装饰性处理，这些有体现了作为一个深得西方雕塑精髓的雕塑家另一个方面的良好素养。

　　雕塑创作中的“中国方式”是中国雕塑界经历了二十世纪学习西方的过程后，在二十一世纪所呈现出来的一个共同的追求，什么样的方式才是与当今中国文化身份和文化主体性相匹配的中国的方式？中国方式与中国的当代现实是一种什么样的关系？田世信先生的《王者之尊》无疑对此作出了积极的回应和贡献，他富于建设性的新作，应该是这方面的一个重要的成果。

　　注释：

　　（1）马克思：《路易·波拿巴的雾月十八日》见《马克思恩格斯选集》第1卷第603页

　　（2）于沛主编：《20世纪的西方史学》，武汉大学出版社，2009年5月第1版，第109页

Describing China Using Chinese Methods:

On Tian Shixin's New Sculpture The Dignity of the King

Sun Zhenhua

　　Tian Shixin's new series, The Dignity of the King, is a rare masterwork to come out of Chinese sculpture in recent years; even within his body of work, this group is a major historical subject worthy of the name, created based on his internal compass. Tian is an extremely diligent and exploratory sculptor, and The Dignity of the King is entirely new, reflecting an important change in his forty-year creative career. His new work is a carefully-created and distinctive group of sculptures, but it might be better to say that he purposely raises questions about the present state of Chinese sculpture and attempts to resolve these issues through his works.

　　The Dignity of the King takes ***'s "Snow" as a historical thread. He used the five most notable emperors in Chinese history, listed in this famed poem, added the writer himself, and presented them in sculpture: Qin Shi Huang, Emperor Wu of Han, Emperor Taizong of Tang, Emperor Taizu of Song, Genghis Khan, and ***.

　　Historically, sculpture was the best artistic medium for presenting history and portraying notable figures. In the last thirty years, historical figures as expressive subjects have generally faded from Chinese sculpture, in favor of ordinary people; this trend fits with the logic of the modernization of Chinese society, and with the traits of secular society.

　　The other side to the issue is that people have not abandoned historical considerations because society has shifted in a worldlier direction. The reason is very simple. "The tradition of all dead generations weighs like an Alp on the brains of the living."  The more a sense of history has faded from this era, the more the cause and effect relationship between the past and the present is obstructed, concealing the deeper influences of the past on the present.

　　How should sculptors today confront and consider history? How should sculptures present grand historical subjects? Tian Shixin asks these questions. His solution is to return to history with new ideas and perspectives and reconstruct a historical vision of China.

　　Frankly speaking, The Dignity of the King is "grand narrative," which has not been terribly popular in recent years; it leaves behind ordinary figures and small points of interest. After this focus on everyday life, the series represents a return to major historical figures. In another sense, this return also means that sculptors have returned to their own true, inner lives.

　　Tian Shixin is a sculptor who has suffered many hardships and has had a life full of twists and turns; his interest in and sensitivity to the politics in history and collective memory may be hard for most people to understand. In this new work, Tian Shixin avoids various fashionable ideas and artistic trends, instead confronting his true inner needs and respecting his true inner choices. This attitude is the foundation of our faith in the artist's work.

　　To sculpt famed historical figures is also to re-understand history; artworks with historical subjects always influence current constructions. When rebuilding the relationship between the individual and history, the artist is controlled by his understanding of the present reality, and his aesthetic tastes and value judgments determine his choices. These choices will help him to shake off the influence of a specific view of history.

　　A historian discussing the changes that have occurred in historiography in the twentieth century once said, "Our understanding of history is, to a certain extent, our understanding of our own conditions at present, and this understanding also influences our expectations for the future."  The six historical notables in The Dignity of the King once reached the peak of history and looked proudly down at the lands over which they ruled. They were figures that people looked up to and revered. When they appear before our eyes today, they not only explain the relationship between the past and the present; they also reflect expectations for the future. Today, historical circumstances have changed, and viewers' feelings toward historical figures have changed. Viewers finally have greater autonomy, building relationships with these historical figures from a range of perspectives.

　　Tian Shixin was very conscientious in his depiction of these historical figures. He collected a large quantity of historical images and materials, working to find a historical foundation for the modeling and details of the figures. Despite this, the historical "truth" that concerns historical philosophers does still, for the artist, exist in his understanding. For the viewer, whether or not the work is "true" is determined by a re-imagining of history built on the artist's creative foundation.

　　These six notable historical figures have very prominent personality differences, but as historical symbols, they show people the different traits of various prosperous times in Chinese history. These figures are familiar to Chinese people, and with so many years of records in the official histories, the rumors of the unofficial histories, and the plots of TV shows and films, it is difficult to find a unified formulation for every person. The sculptor's modeling gives the power of commentary to every viewer. The similar Dragon Thrones occupied by these figures with markedly different personalities could reflect the artist's attempt to find common ground among these exceptions.

　　What do viewers see in every figure? Opinions differ on this question, but the modeling methods used in The Dignity of the King provide the viewer with an entirely new visual experience. Although it looks new, it's actually a very old method; the discovery and study of traditional methods of Chinese sculpture are rare in sculpture circles. Tian's breakthroughs in this respect obviously give the modeling and meaning of this work a high degree of continuity and harmony.

　　In The Dignity of the King, Tian Shixin uses a "Chinese method" of creating sculpture. His group of historical figures incorporates his many years of careful research into the traditional Chinese plastic arts; the series is like a small encyclopedia on the subject. His is an all-encompassing experience, which touches on multiple areas, including painting, folk art, and temple sculptures. Through the modeling of important historical figures from different eras, Tian experiments with and explores the possibilities of traditional ethnic and folk modeling methods in sculpture today. These efforts are rare nowadays.

　　The Dignity of the King represents the close relationship between traditional Chinese painting and sculpture. Historically, the maxims "do not separate sculpture and painting" and "sculpt the countenance, paint the character" were important differences between Chinese and Western sculpture. In ancient times, Chinese artists did not carefully emphasize the formal differences between painting and sculpture; sculpture and painting often depicted identical or similar elements.

　　The Dignity of the King employs many elements of painting, such as the coloring on the figures' clothing, reflecting the confluence of sculpture and painting in ancient China. In terms of color, ancient Chinese sculpture was very particular about "ornamentation," and there had always been a tradition of painting sculpture. The Dignity of the King fully exemplifies the charm of painted sculpture.

　　The use of ready-mades was also a tradition in ancient Chinese sculpture. In clay pieces, the objects held by the figures, the decoration on their hats, and their hair were often ready-mades. In addition to paint, Tian used a variety of treatment methods, including eggshells (Zhao Kuangyin) and gold leaf (***), on the surfaces of the sculptures; this resurrection of traditional methods gives this group of sculptures rich surface effects.

　　The use of traditional lacquer is particularly worth noting. These lacquer sculptures are called hollow lacquer sculptures, dry lacquer sculptures, or "walking" sculptures. According to historical records, the noted sculptor Dai Kui from the Eastern Jin created this method on the foundations of traditional lacquer techniques. He first made a rough base of clay, then covered it in linen. He repeatedly coated it in lacquer, and after the lacquer dried, the clay was removed to create a hollow lacquer sculpture. These sculptures were light and easy to move, which suited the needs of people carrying Buddha statues in street processions. This gave them the name "walking sculptures." Currently, there are very few sculptors who have mastered this technique, and for reasons of time, he utilized it in only two sculptures in The Dignity of the King; as the artist intended, I hope that this method will be used for all of the figures at some point it the future.

　　Due to the adoption of traditional techniques and the use of backdrops often employed to highlight temple sculptures, The Dignity of the King has a strong grounding in traditional history.

　　In addition to using traditional methods, Tian also transcended tradition and made many personal experiments. For example, the figures are modeled in a pyramid-like structure, the figures are treated in interlocking sections, and the surfaces of the clothing and skin have different textures. The succinct decoration on Zhao Kuangyin's hat is particularly brilliant, another notable accomplishment for a sculptor with a deep understanding of the essence of Western sculpture.

　　After the Chinese sculpture world learned from the West in the twentieth century, they pursued common goals in the twenty-first century. Which methods are "Chinese methods" that fit with China's current cultural identity and cultural subjectivity? How are Chinese methods related to contemporary reality in China? Tian Shixin's The Dignity of the King actively responds to and contributes to this discussion, and his constructive new works are an important result of this debate.

　　References

　　Marx, Karl. The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte. New York: Cosimo Classics, 2008.

　　Yu, Pei, ed. Twentieth-Century Western Historiography [Chinese]. Wuhan: Wuhan University Press, 2009.