Shen Congwen's initial idea was to leave a complete autobiography, but the persistent extreme mental pressure prevented him from completing it step by step. After writing the first chapter, he crossed out most of the middle and directly wrote southwest lacquerware. The footnote on the first page of the manuscript reads: "There should be eight chapters between this and confession." Southwest lacquerware was paid special attention to and collected by Shen Congwen during his eight years in Kunming after the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War. Of course, he likes it, but he is eager to write this part, regardless of the chronological order. What he wants to say is not only the types of southwest lacquerware and the related southwest culture, but also his life context. Under the title of the manuscript, "A chapter of autobiography: the development of a little fantasy", such a line was added.
What Shen Congwen wants to say is that art, especially arts and crafts, has a close relationship with himself, and this relationship has a history of continuous development.
"I have a little habit, which I have developed since I was a child, that is, I love music and art." "I know that my life comes from music; Knowing other people's lives really begins with art. "When I saw the little silversmith hammering the silverfish, I shed tears because of something and beat the pattern with a small steel mold. Seeing carpenters and kannika nimtragol doing crafts, I found that workers' feelings outside the fruits of their labor are either close or free. And understand that the production of a work of art has a more interdependent relationship besides labor. What's more important is that these arts and crafts produced by ordinary citizens and supplied to larger citizens have the same functions as music, such as modeling, raw materials and uses. They are gradually immersed in a lonely life, entertaining me and educating me, which is inseparable from my life development. "
He didn't receive strict art training, but he cultivated a hobby and understanding. This hobby and understanding "is particularly worth mentioning, that is, he loves not only art, but also the heart that produces touching works, the pure heart of a real' person'." It is precisely because of this hobby, "coming to the city, arts and crafts have broadened my horizons, and my hobbies and understanding are based on comprehensive comparison." I am not only interested in the production process, but also interested in the producer's heart, how to integrate into the work, his diligence, desire, enthusiasm and a little practical plan, all in my heart. All works of art contain the author's life struggle form and mental scale, which I understand carefully and profoundly. "
Coming to Peiping from Xiangxi, I don't know where my future career lies. I fumbled for books, most of which were related to history, cultural relics and art: "In order to expand my knowledge, I came to Beiping to study with a pen, and books are not easy to break sentences. When the pen is stuck in many unformed concepts, I can't handle it. The catalogue of art archaeology in Beiping Library (starting from Shi Jing Library in Xuannei) and all the exhibits in the three halls of the Forbidden City have become my authentic works. The method of reading is also different from that of people. It is entirely the way to read that big book, look at the form, look at the development, compare its constancy and change, and gain an impression and understanding from these three. "
Shen Congwen, who lived in Yunnan after the Anti-Japanese War and had already established his literary position, paid special attention to some things neglected by historical and modern scholars in southwest China, mainly lacquerware. Wang Zengqi recalled: "When I was his student in Kunming, he talked to me (and others) about literature, far less about ceramics, lacquerware and embroidery. I don't know where he bought so many ethnic patterned fabrics. After a few cups of tea, everyone followed him and enjoyed these patterns all night. For a time, as soon as I went to the streets, I looked everywhere for lacquer boxes in Myanmar. No one I know in Kunming does not have this lacquer box of Shen Congwen at home. Once he stared at a large lacquer box with a diameter of one foot for a long time, stroking and saying,' This can be the cover of red and black magazines!
From natural hobbies to the understanding and experience of the world, life and self, and gradually internalized into the nourishing component of self-life, it promoted the development and change of self-life. For Shen Congwen, cultural relics are not only the research "objects" to be selected in the future.
What should I do after giving up literature at the turn of the times? Studying historical relics is Shen Congwen's independent choice. The reason for this choice, in fact, has long been lurking in his life, just like a seed buried in the soil, which will erupt when the time comes. About Southwest Lacquerware and Others describes the long journey of this seed in the soil.
From the reminder of this autobiography, and from the reminder of Shen Congwen's later life, looking back at the autobiography of Shen Congwen, which he wrote at the age of 30 and wrote about his life before 2 1 year old, we may be able to distinguish a clue that he inadvertently drew. There are touching paragraphs and chapters in this book, which naturally shows a young life's keen interest in China's ancient culture and cultural relics. Who can imagine that this little soldier who can't earn a few dollars a month has a heavy "industry" in his luggage: a Yunhui monument worth six dollars, a holy teaching preface worth five dollars, an Lanting preface worth two dollars, a temple monument worth five dollars in the south of Henan, and a book of poems by Li Yishan. If we want to talk about Shen Congwen's calligraphy, we should start with this early "industry". The penultimate chapter of Congwen Autobiography is entitled "The Place to Learn History", which describes that he worked as a secretary beside Commander-in-Chief Hu for about six months. One of his daily affairs is to keep and organize a large number of ancient books, calligraphy and painting, inscriptions and cultural relics. "This life is really a turning point for me, giving me a leisurely opportunity to know and approach the glory of all aspects of the whole history."
When you have nothing to do, take out those old paintings one by one, hang them on the wall and enjoy them alone, or open books such as Xiqing Ancient Mirror and Notes of Shi Xueqi-Zhong Ding, and try to understand the name and value of bronzes in the room from the text and form. Go through those books again. If you don't know the author's age, go to the four libraries to summarize. That is to say, from this aspect, I have a preliminary understanding of the art made by this nation with a piece of color, a string, a bronze ware or a pile of mud, a set of words and my own life in a long year. Because of these preliminary knowledge, a countryman who lives by appreciating human life and natural phenomena and then understands the brilliance of human wisdom has a very extensive and profound interest.
After Shen Congwen's whole life has been completed for many years, reading such words in his early years carefully can't help but sigh that the continuation of life and the 2 1 year-old military commander and the 30-year-old autobiography have laid an amazing foreshadowing for the future history.
In the autobiographical chapter of 1949, Shen Congwen clearly described this life thread. In the years to come, he will stretch this thread hard and hard until his life is finally completed.