汪子芳
2016年9月15日中秋夜,受臺風“莫蘭蒂”影響,溫州泰順縣“國保”廊橋薛宅橋、文重橋、文興橋,相繼被山洪沖垮。
泰順山水相間,溪流蜿蜒,廊橋跨水而起,村民們在兩岸次第聚落。在當?shù)厝诵闹?,它一直如精神圖騰般地存在。
2017年3月末,三座廊橋的修復開工,8月12日,首先完工文重橋。
廊橋修舊如舊,打撈回來的木構(gòu)件如何使用,新增的木料又如何添加?廊橋側(cè)重文物性還是安全性?文物專家和工匠們卻各有堅持。
文物修復比建造新橋更難
作為“世界橋梁史上的奇跡”,從明代開始,泰順廊橋就承載起浙南文化的鄉(xiāng)土記憶。廊橋在歷史風雨中屢毀屢建,這幾乎成了當?shù)厝说囊环N習俗和儀式,一種特殊的文化情結(jié)。去年中秋夜,三座廊橋被洪水沖垮,泰順民眾來不及悲痛,便和政府部門、非遺保護中心的工作人員一起,第一時間加入到“全民救橋”的行動中。
熟悉廊橋的人都知道,每座廊橋大大小小的木構(gòu)件有1000多,被洪水沖垮后,越多找回原有的木構(gòu)件,就意味著廊橋修復的可能性越大。由于搶救及時,廊橋90%以上的大、中木構(gòu)件都被找回,原木構(gòu)件晾干之后重新使用,這成了廊橋修復的關(guān)鍵性因素。
廊橋被沖垮后的最初幾天,泰順縣非遺保護中心的工作人員沿著河流尋找被沖走的木構(gòu)件,每天往返40多公里。歷經(jīng)20多天,三座廊橋的大部分原木構(gòu)件從河堤埠墈打撈起來,從田間地頭尋找回來。除了盡可能找回原木構(gòu)件,工作人員還要抓緊尋找廊橋修復所需的備料。
2009年,泰順廊橋所屬的“中國傳統(tǒng)木結(jié)構(gòu)營造技藝”被聯(lián)合國教科文組織列入《人類非物質(zhì)文化遺產(chǎn)代表作名錄》。季海波作為泰順縣非遺保護中心主任,廊橋修復工程的具體執(zhí)行工作自然就歸到了他的身上。從修復開工以來,季海波一直在三座廊橋的修復現(xiàn)場之間奔波,執(zhí)行文物專家制定的方案,與廊橋營造技藝傳承人溝通修復細節(jié)?!袄葮蛐迯捅戎亟ㄒ蛔聵蚋y,耗時也更長,這要求修復后的廊橋最大程度保持原樣,還必須保證它的文物性和安全性。”季海波多次解釋。
木料構(gòu)件如何使用
與新建廊橋不同,被沖毀的三座廊橋是“國?!?,修復工程就必然包含專業(yè)文物修復和非遺技藝傳承兩類不同背景的專家,各有堅持。薛宅橋、文重橋、文興橋的主墨師傅,分別是鄭昌貴、賴永斌和曾家快,他們都是業(yè)界響當當?shù)拇髱?,都有獨立新建廊橋的技藝和?jīng)驗,可這次廊橋修復不同。
以薛宅橋為例?!霸谘φ瑯蛏希覀兛梢钥吹?00年前的木料,也能看到清朝、民國時期的木構(gòu)件,這意味著,每一次大修都盡可能保留了古橋的原件,橋本身就具有歷史感?!奔竞2ń榻B,這與專家的要求相符——修舊如舊,保留橋體的歷史印跡,即文物屬性。
“廊橋的原木構(gòu)件有很多歷史信息,特別是各構(gòu)件之間的卯榫關(guān)系,體現(xiàn)了當時的建造工藝和水準?!闭憬」沤ㄖO(shè)計院黃貴強工程師介紹,廊橋的修復理念應該是盡可能利用原木構(gòu)件,并對殘損的木構(gòu)件進行加固。
可是,工匠更在意廊橋的安全和牢固程度?!爱吘梗葮蛐奁饋聿粌H是擺在那里讓人看,它們還要有實用性,兩岸的村民都要從橋上走路,還要防止洪水襲擊。”薛宅橋的主墨師傅鄭昌貴堅持。
在所有被打撈尋回的原木構(gòu)件中,只有一部分原件可以原樣使用,大多數(shù)損毀嚴重,無法直接使用,工匠認為,原木構(gòu)件殘損可能會影響安全。
“原件做上去,不好看又不牢固,我們希望部分用新料替換,安全也美觀?!编嵅F師傅說,新舊木料的柔韌性、承壓能力有差異,損傷的原件就應該用新料代替。他的主張也代表了另外兩位主墨師傅的想法。
但工匠的想法被專家否決了:“文物修復的基本法則就是最少干預、不改變文物原件?!?img alt="" src="https://cimg.fx361.com/images/2017/10/17/whjl201710whjl20171002-2-l.jpg" style=""/>
廊橋修復如何兩全其美?
專家堅持文物保護理念,而工匠主張橋體安全理念,兩者產(chǎn)生分歧,有沒有兩全其美的辦法,讓雙方達成一致?
文物保護的理念不可更改,黃貴強和省里的專家團隊來到泰順,一遍遍與工匠溝通,想讓對方厘清新舊木料之間的區(qū)別?!皫煾祩冋f原木件的卯榫損壞了,我們就想辦法,看有沒有別的方法將這些原木構(gòu)件用到橋上面去?!?/p>
在協(xié)商過程中,季海波帶著專家和工匠做木測試,比如,嘗試將原有的木件改小,替換到另一個位置上,或者,用古人使用的藤條在木料的連接部位進行加固,增強木構(gòu)件的抗壓性能,再或者,測試不同墩接的承壓性能。
工匠按照要求測試,尋找最牢固可靠的墩接技術(shù),接好之后將木料懸空并大力敲擊,測試卯榫位置的單點承重力,再經(jīng)專家測試通過,才在建筑過程中使用并進行推廣。
在專家和工匠互動的過程中,除了各自的分歧點,也出現(xiàn)過很多意外的驚喜。比如,在后期整理文興橋的原木構(gòu)件時,主墨師傅曾家快又翻出一些可原樣使用的構(gòu)件,“那時候,所有人比挖到金子還高興”。
雖然各有堅持,但所有人的初衷都是為了修復廊橋。工匠們像是釘在現(xiàn)場的“釘子”一樣,放棄休息,全力修復廊橋。
8月12日上午,一個喜訊傳來,文重橋主體工程順利完工,比預定工期提前了兩個月。
目前,廊橋的整體修復工程已經(jīng)完成三分之二,薛宅橋和文興橋也已經(jīng)完成屋脊鋪瓦、椽條歸位,之后,將修復橋臺,整治廊橋的周邊環(huán)境,安裝防洪防火和測量移位的感應器等。
屢毀屢建,經(jīng)歷風雨而不消亡,相信在今年11月底前,三座古色古香的廊橋?qū)α⑷绯?,依然跨越在浙南的山水之間。endprint
(本文照片由作者拍攝、提供)
Restoration of Damaged Covered Bridges in Taishun
By Wang Zifang
Taishun in the southern part of Zhejiang Province boasts a total of 46 covered bridges built in the Tang (618-907) and the following dynasties and well preserved. Nineteen of the 46 were inscribed as provincial cultural relics in 2005 and 15 of the 46 were designated as national cultural relics 2009. In 2009, Chinese Traditional Architectural Craftsmanship for Timber-framed Structures was inscribed on UNESCOs Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Covered bridges of Taishun were part of the timber-framed structures. Since then tourists have flocked to Taishun for seeing the architectural wonders.
On the night September 15, 2016, the super typhoon Meranti slashed Taishun County in southern Zhejiang and subsequent floods brought down Xuezhai Bridge, Wenzhong Bridge and Wenxing Bridge, all under the protection of the state government.
As soon as the bridges went down, the rescue operation began. Villagers, government officials and employees at the center for protection of intangible cultural heritage worked together to retrieve wooden components of the three bridges. Each covered bridge has over 1,000 prefabricated components. The more retrieved, the better opportunities to restore the bridges. Over the few days after the floods caused by the typhoon, the employees of the protection center walked for over 40 kilometers along the streams several times to spot and retrieve all the scattered components. Eventually, about 90% of the original components were salvaged, paving the way for restoration projects. Meanwhile, efforts were made to prepare for the restoration projects.
“Restoring a covered bridge would be more difficult and more time-consuming than building a new one. Its because a restored bridge needs to retain its original condition as a cultural relic as much as possible and because it must ensure safety for the public who use the bridge every day,” explained Ji Haibo, director of the protection center.
Zheng Changgui, Lai Yongbin and Zeng Jiakuai are respectively in charge of each of the three restoration projects. They are masters who can build a covered bridge from scratch. The restoration projects ran into the same problem at the beginning. As the three covered bridges are national cultural relics, what principles were applied to the restoration projects? In the projects were professionals engaged in cultural relic restoration and experts in the field of preservation and inheritance of intangible cultural heritage. They have different focuses.endprint
Take Xuezhai Bridge for instance. The retrieved components were from different historical phases. Some were five hundred years old whereas some were installed respectively in the Qing (1644-1911) and in the early 20th century.
Ji Haibo wanted to keep the original time-worn conditions as much as possible. Huang Guiqiang from Zhejiang Ancient Architectural Design Institute suggested that all the retrieved components be used and even partly damaged components be repaired and used again. Zheng Changgui disagreed. As the master in charge of restoring Xuezhai Bridge, he emphasized safety as the top priority, pointing out that the bridge should be in safe use for a long time in future and the restored bridge shall be strong enough to withstand future floods. He proposed to use new components to replace most of the retrieved components which were damaged to varying degrees. The experts opposed the proposal.
The experts and the three masters sat down and discussed to seek a solution that would keep the restored bridges as cultural relics and would be good enough for everyday use and strong enough to withstand floods.
The masters agreed to examine all the retrieved components and see if partly damaged big components could be recycled to be smaller ones. The remodeled blocks would be tested scientifically first before they were approved to go into the restored structure. The masters also proposed to use rattan stems to further reinforce the mortise and tenon joints of retrieved components. The masters also developed a new procedure to test the best spots for key components to come together. The experts approved the procedure. Some new brand wood components have gone into the bridges.
At present, the main part of Wenzhong Bridge was restored on August 12. Two thirds of Xuezhai Bridge and Wenxing Bridge have been restored. Modern devices will be installed to monitor the conditions of the bridges and help them withstand future floods.
The restoration of three covered bridges is scheduled to be complete by November 2017.endprint