《东庄图》之鹤洞

　　沈周画“鹤洞”应该是很有情趣的，赵宋季林和靖的梅妻鹤子的情趣也是一直感染着他的，沈周还有林和靖的手札，也请许多名人题跋的。我在画时，则会想到这鹤洞里可能会有一个狐狸，进而又想到“胡”的概念，真是很怪的。关于“狐”与“胡”。

　　上世纪有两个名人写过两篇妙文。一篇是名作家贾平凹《二胡》文中说，曾去新疆南部以千元“携得两狐——一张银狐的皮，一张白狐的皮”。并“唤”这两张皮为“冰妃”和“雪姬”，认定它们是“姐妹”，说凭着它们有着一身野性的风流率真和高贵，便认定是“美女”了。并认为它们就出生在冰山之父的慕士塔格峰上。因它们来自西域，理当该姓为胡。尽管“狐易于成妖”，但贾作家却是一定要瞧着它们才能入睡，天明时睁开第一眼就又能看见它们，心里就充满了无比的安定。似乎那以狐的形象存在着的美女的灵魂，是贾作家心头的一块肉。于是“去弹古琴，琴弦嘎嘣地断了。又去弹琵琶，不料这琵琶也是断了弦的”。

　　照贾作家想法;这分明是有了知己了的。这是上世纪末，一篇论到西域“狐”或“胡”的事。

　　另一篇则约在上世纪中叶，国立清华大学中国文学会编的《语文与文学》中陈寅恪先生撰的《狐臭与胡臭》。文章说：古华夏民族与西胡人血统混淆即久。古医书中所谓腋气之病者即“狐臭”者，因不雅，遂改“狐”为“胡”，故“胡臭”便是“狐臭”。文章立意甚偏，也只有陈寅恪先生之所为。文章一发表却引起一位在校生黄永年(当代著名学者)的注意。并写了《谈陈寅恪先生(狐臭与胡臭)兼论狐与胡的关系》一文，认为陈先生在立论上仅据唐《教坊记》以及五代《鉴诫录》两书，似简单了些，以为在这“狐”与“胡”的字眼上，还有不少古书论及，如《太平广记》、《各急千金要方》，《清病源候总论》、《异苑》、《幽明录》、《隋书》、《旧唐书》、《通鉴》、《汉书》等均有论述，甚至在更早的《同易》、《尚书》、《诗经》、《礼记》、《春秋左氏传》、《国语》中也多有论及之。

　　黄学者以为关于“狐”，说的最多的是《太平广记》，并作为专题讲述。从四百四十七卷(狐一)说到四百五十五卷(狐九)共讲述了八十六个关于狐的故事，如此引经据典的考证，恐怕连国学大师陈寅恪也不曾料到。恰巧我曾有过完整的这明代嘉靖年间白棉纸的谭刻本，更没料到的是我在查看《太平广记》时，看过有这样一段文字：“(赵)门福骂云：你我虽是狐，我已千年，千年之狐，姓赵姓张，五百年狐，姓白姓康”。所谓“千年乃为居本土久矣，而“五百年”则是“日浅”为西胡外来者。对“狐”与“胡” 奇妙说法乃真是趣事一件。

　　中国之大，历史之悠久，文化的多样性是必然，尊重其文化的各自差异是文化发展的重要内容。尊重差异就是尊重文化的多样性。仅东部海岸线上的南北两地，其文化就存在着明显的差异现象，不论是雅文化还是俗文化。

　　事实上不同地域的文化圈的事实是在的，从中国古代医学角度来看，就可分为：黄河文化圈的针灸学医学、长江和淮河之间文化圈的本草学医学以及长江以南文化圈的汤液学医学。

　　呈现在北方大地上空的满天彩霞对南方大地上空下的百姓没有什么感觉。南方大地上的百姓说北方大地上空的满天彩霞，也总有一种“不确定性”。南方的人若用北方的思维方式来阐绎，会有一种“不确定性”。

　　这就是我在画这幅画时，会想到这鹤洞里可能会有一个“狐狸”的原因。怪伐！

　　He Dong

　　——What I think, feel and act during the creating process

　　The original piece made by Shen Zhou was very cool and interesting. But somehow while I was drawing He Dong (Crane Cave), I unconsciously imagined there should be a fox hidden in the cave. Therefore I started to think about the interesting relationship between Hu (west region) and Hu (fox).

　　There are two exquisite articles discussing this topic. One is Er Hu from Jia Pingwa. In the article, he said that he once bought the fur of two foxes in the South of Xinjiang province and firmly believed that these two must be fox sisters born on the Muztag Ata. Since they came from the western regions, their family name should be Hu. Although usually people are used to linking foxes with monsters, Jia Pingwa loves these two fox furs very much, and hangs them on the wall in the bedroom. As if there’re two beautiful girls’ soul hidden inside these two furs.

　　The other article came from Mr. Chen Yingge in the middle of last century, explaining that in Chinese language Hu (western region) was a substitute of Hu (fox) in terms of Hu Chou (body odor). The theme of the article was very unique, and another famous scholar Mr. Huang Yongnian even wrote an article discussing about the theme.

　　Actually lots of ancient books had mentioned these two characters. There was one sentence of Into the porcelain pillow saying that “We are both foxes. I am 1000 years old while you are 500 years old.” Here 1000-year-old fox stands for the original Chinese and 500-year-old fox stands for the outsiders from the western regions. How interesting it is!

　　Chinese culture is bound to be diverse because of its vast territory and long history. The different natural environment of North and South part of China leads to different culture. This difference can be found in everywhere: art, medical science, music, etc. We should respect this diversity of the cultures.

　　That’s the story I thought about when I was drawing this piece. What a strange experience!