一个不会被人淡忘的人——纪念恩师施于人先生

方李莉

1990年获景德镇陶瓷学院获硕士学位，1996年获中央工艺美术学院（现清华大学美术学院）获博士学位。同年被录取到北京大学社会学人类学研究所博士后流动站。现任中国艺术研究院中国文化研究所副所长，国家民族民间文化保护专家委员会委员，中国艺术人类学学会会长。

一个不会被人淡忘的人——纪念恩师施于人先生

方李莉

记得1996年春节回景德镇，当时我刚通过我的博士毕业论文，并由清华大学出版社出版，刚出版的书还散发着油墨的香味，书的名字叫《新工艺文化论——人类造物大趋势》。我到先生家拜年，并把书送给他，作为我离开陶瓷学院到北京读书后的成果交待。先生收到书后很激动，他迅速的打开，翻看完目录和导言。他说，他想不到以前是一个搞创作的人，在这么短的时间内却完成了这样一本富有艰深理论的专著。但他认为艺术和设计的理论非常重要，国家的发展非常需要这样的人才，需要一些这方面的深刻思考。他说他会放在身边慢慢读，等我下次再回北京的时候，他会好好和我讨论。

春节结束后我回到北京，不久便被录取到北京大学做人类学方面的博士后，准备做更深一步的有关艺术理论方面的研究。我想先生如果知道这一消息，一定也会高兴，而且我还期待着和他就我的博士论文做进一步的探讨，并对我博士后期间的研究提一些看法。谁知道没多久我却从电话中得知他不幸遇到车祸，永远的离开了我们，我当时惊呆了，很多要向先生说的话，很多要和先生讨论的问题，都不再有机会了。这么多年我一直都在心里默默地怀念着他，怀念着我在陶瓷学院读书时他对我的教导，还有他的音容笑貌，他做人的原则。

我和我的丈夫朱乐耕都是他的研究生，不同的是朱乐耕进校之前对陶瓷艺术就有了非常专业的学习，而且当时就小有名气，不少作品得过奖。而我以前学的是绘画，对陶瓷有兴趣完全是受朱乐耕的影响。虽然考上了陶瓷学院美术系的研究生，但对陶瓷工艺却还不熟悉。但无知者无畏，由于我进去时是一片空白，所以可以做任何的尝试。开始我对传统的粉彩感兴趣，做了一些这方面的作品。但后来又觉得，学习陶瓷艺术如果还只能是像我以前一样画画，就没有多大意思了。一心想做的是摸泥巴，现在学习陶艺的人摸泥巴很正常。但在我们的那个时候，只有做陶瓷雕塑的人才能摸泥巴。而我学的是陶瓷设计和装饰，这样的专业只能是在之上画图纸，或在瓷器上画一些装饰性的绘画。而摸泥巴的冲动让我完全置学科的界限而不顾，做了许多的雕塑、壁饰。我以为先生会不高兴，因为这与他所教给我的完全不同。但没想到他不但没有批评我，反而鼓励我大胆的走自己的路。他认为按照自己的想法做创作，按照自己的想法来学习很重要，因为艺术最重要的就是创新。在他的鼓励下，我做了一系列的瓷雕作品。毕业时我和当时也同是先生的硕士生的许雅柯一起办了一个毕业展，效果不错。我的好几件作品，参加全国的和景德镇的陶瓷美术展都得到了一等奖，还在浙江美术学院出版社出版了一本陶瓷艺术的画册。当时真的令我很兴奋。我可以说是没有任何陶瓷工艺基础进来的，毕业时却能取得这么好的成绩。

现在想起来我都非常感谢先生，如果他当时没有那样的一种气度和眼光，要把我限制在我不感兴趣的陶瓷绘画和设计里，就不会有我的这些作品。也不会有我自由快乐的三年硕士生的创作和学习的生活，当时也有人对我的作品产生过非议，质问我到底是雕塑专业的学生还是设计专业的学生，但都被先生给顶回去了。现在看来当时先生的眼光和思考是超前的，因为在今天跨学科研究已成为一种趋势，何况是不同的手段来表现自己的艺术思想。也许正是先生的鼓励，使我成为了一个不墨守成规的人，一个敢于打破自我的人。

毕业后从陶瓷艺术走向了工艺美术学的研究，又走向了人类学的研究。对于我来说专业并不是十分重要，因为专业本身也是人为去划分的。重要的是我们将如何去认识问题，研究问题和解决问题，只要能解决，什么方法和什么手段都是可以借鉴和采用的，这也是在先生鼓励下让我产生的想法。

先生给予我的不仅是做学问的方式，更重要的还有做人的态度。他为人谦虚和低调，但他的内心世界却如火一边的热情，而且充满着童心，如果没有和他近距离的接触是很难了解到的。有一次春节期间他带我和朱乐耕到云贵地区做考察，我们一起来到了西双版纳，一路步行到过许多的傣族和佤族的寨子，画画写生做考察，一路上他兴趣盎然，童心大发。他那年正好六十岁，一天他告诉我们那天时他六十岁的生日，我们带了一些方便面，师生三人吃方便面祝寿，虽然简单也很有意思。晚上我们步行到了一个佤族的寨子里，正碰上有一户人家建房子，按照当地的习俗，建房时全寨人都会来帮忙，晚上大家要围着篝火跳舞到通宵。看到这样热闹的场景，先生兴奋起来，他不仅钻到了人群中去跳舞，还拿起了当地的象腿鼓边打边跳，顿时他成了舞会的中心，大家围坐他边跳边喊。

我和朱乐耕开始很拘谨，觉得自己不会跳，不知如何加入才好。看到先生如此投入欢快，也放开了，钻进舞场上，随着节拍跳了起来。在这以前我一直觉得跳舞是演员的专利，我们只是舞蹈的观看者。但那天我突然发现，只要我们打开心扉，放下拘束，让自己进入一个自由状态，其实我们每个人都会是一个很好的舞蹈者。不仅是跳舞其实做人也一样，很多事情我们做不好，是因为我们不够自然，不够放松，不能解放自己身上的很多束缚，不能让自己的人性得到充分的展示。

那天晚上我们跳得很尽兴，很开心。最重要的是从那天开始我到了舞场上不再发怵，一直到现在，只要到少数民族地区考察我都会和当地人一起跳舞。这次舞蹈可以说部分地改变了我的性格，使我比以前洒脱，自由，少拘束。这样的性格对对我的今天可以说是有极大的帮助的，它可以说是部分地成就了我。

因此，今天当我们聚在一起回忆先生，对于我来讲有的不仅是怀念，还是感恩。他是我人生经历中的非常重要的一部分，如果抽调他对我的影响，就很难构成我今天完整的人生。

所以在这里，我非常感谢卡拉教授，她作为一个美国人竟然花了十年的时间去研究先生，为他出画册，为他办展览，关心他夫人的生活。让先生又回到了被大家逐步淡忘的记忆中，真的是令我很感动，也很感激，很惭愧，很多应该我们这些弟子做的事都让她做了。我要向她致敬！

在这里我还要感谢的是师母，记得先生在世时，我们每次上门去求教，师母都要留我们吃饭，不断地往我的碗里挟好吃的。如今师母也老了，我衷心的祝她健康长寿！

Fang Lili

In 1990, Fang Lili was granted a Masters degree from Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute; in 1996, she was awarded a doctoral degree from the Central Academy of Arts and Crafts (now Tsinghua University) in Beijing. That same year, she was admitted to the Institute of Sociology and Anthropology at Beijing University to do post-doctoral research. Currently, she is deputy director of the Institute of Chinese Culture, a member of the National Folk Culture Protection Committee of Experts, and a leader at the China Art Institute of Anthropology.

The One Who Will Never Be Forgotten

by Fang Lili

I recall going home to Jingdezhen for Spring Festival in 1996. I had just defended my Ph.D. thesis entitled “New Processes: Trends in Human Construction Activities”, and it had been published by Tsinghua University Press. During the holidays, I went to Master Shi Yuren’s home to pay my respects and give him a copy of my dissertation, which doubled as a progress report for my post-Jingdezhen studies in Beijing. He told me he never would have imagined that a studio artist like myself could accomplish such scholarship in such a short time. He always believed it was very important to study the theoretical foundations of art and design, a field which required experts and research. He assured me he would slowly read and digest my book in anticipation of an in-depth discussion the next time I came home from Beijing.

When I returned to Beijing after Spring Festival, I was accepted as a post-doctoral student in anthropology at Beijing University where I would focus on art theory. I hoped Shi Yuren would be happy for my new plan, and I looked forward to discussing my dissertation work with him and asking his advice regarding my coming studies. Then I received a phone call telling me about his death in a traffic accident. I was in shock: so many things I wanted to tell him, so many topics we would never discuss. Suddenly, he was gone. During these past years, I often think of him fondly. I miss the time I studied with him in Jingdezhen, and I miss his smile, his voice and his approach to life.

My husband Zhu Legeng and I are both his MFA graduate students. My husband, however, was an established ceramic artist with systematic studies in ceramics and a prize-winning body of work even before becoming Shi Yuren’s protégé. I, on the other hand, had previously studied painting, but I had not at first become interested in ceramic art. Although I was accepted into the MFA program in ceramics, I knew little about the porcelain-making process. Luckily, I had a fearless attitude and experimented freely without preconceptions. At first, I was interested in the polychrome overglaze technique known as fencai or famille-rose. After understanding the similarities between traditional painting and porcelain painting, I developed a keen interest in playing with clay. Nowadays, it is common for ceramic artists to handle clay, but when I was a student, only ceramic sculptors actually put their hands in clay. Although I was majoring in ceramic decorative arts which was limited to surface painting, I was gripped by the desire to get literally in touch the raw materials, so I made a series of wall sculptures which I then decorated. I was expecting disapproval from Shi Yuren since such work differed from the standard; instead, he strongly encouraged me to follow my instincts. He insisted that the most important thing for an artist is to be innovative and to follow one’s own style. With his encouragement, I made a series of ceramics and won first prize in both Jingdezhen and national competitions. I was very excited by the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts Press publication of a monograph of my work. Subsequently, I entered the MFA program in ceramics with just a little knowledge of the porcelain process but ultimately graduated with success.

Looking back, I owe many thanks to Shi Yuren. Without his vision and open-mindedness, I could never have accomplished what I did had I been confined to just ceramic art and design in which I had scant interest at the time. Thanks to Shi Yuren, I enjoyed 3 happy and carefree years as an MFA student. During those years, others challenged the direction of my work and questioned whether I was majoring in design or in sculpture. These controversies were all tempered by Shi Yuren, a master teacher ahead of his time. Today, the trend is toward interdisciplinary studies which do not restrict the means used for artistic ends. Inspired by Shi Yuren, I have become a maverick who dares to break rules and overcome limitations.

After getting my MFA, I went into the field of anthropology followed by theoretical studies in art and design. To me, it matters little which discipline I study because all disciplines are defined by human beings. More important is the process of coming up with a problem, then figuring out how to study it and solve it using whatever means in whichever ways. All these conceptual approaches were inspired by Shi Yuren.

Shi Yuren taught me how to study, but even more important, he taught me how to be a good person. He is low-key and humble, but also full of passion and child-like playfulness. It is difficult to see that side of him without being close up. Once during Spring Festival, Shi Yuren took me and Zhu Legeng on a school trip to Yunnan and Guizhou Provinces. We arrived at Xishuangbanna where we collected raw materials, made sketches, and studied local cultures and folk arts. We visited many Dai and Wa minority people’s villages where we drew, painted, and interacted with the villagers. One day, it happened to be Shi Yuren’s sixtieth birthday. We cooked noodles in celebration for a simple, but memorable meal. In the evening, we walked to a Wa village where we encountered a family building a new house. According to local custom, everyone in the village must participate in the construction work, followed by an all-night party with singing and dancing around a bonfire. Shi Yuren was so excited to crash the party. He not only danced, but he also played the elephant foot drum. He was the center of attention, and we all cheered and danced around him. At first, my husband and I felt a little awkward since we didn’t know the dance steps or what to do. But seeing Shi Yuren so relaxed and full of fun, we joined the dancing crowd. Previously, I had thought dancing was just for actresses, not for ordinary audience members like myself. But at that moment with Shi Yuren, I realized we are all natural dancers as long as we open up our hearts, relax, and let everything go. Dancing is like living: we feel we can’t do it because we have forgotten how to be natural, relaxed, and free to unleash our inner selves.

We had a spectacular time that night in Yunnan. From then on in, I was not self-conscious on the dance floor. Now, I always dance with local people whenever I visit an autonomous minority region. I attribute the outgoing aspects of my character – and the successes I have enjoyed – to this experience with Shi Yuren on his birthday.

On this very day, we gather to celebrate the memory of Master Shi Yuren. For me, this event is more than a memorial; it is also a time for thanksgiving. He continues to be such an important part of my life. Without his influence, I could not have become the person I am today.

Finally, I want to sincerely thank the American, Carla Coch, who has devoted 10 precious years of her life to the study of Shi Yuren: she has published a book, organized two exhibitions of his work, and taken care of his widow Liu Haixian. Carla has enabled Shi Yuren’s light to shine again from out of our fading memories. I am impressed, and a little ashamed, that she has done the work that should have been undertaken by his protégés. I salute her!

Last, but not least, I wish to thank Liu Haixian. Every time I visited her husband, she always invited us to stay for dinner and insisted we eat more, then even more. Now, although Liu Haixian is getting older, I wish her long life and happiness!

Translated by Yenfen Huang and Carla Coch