学文网木雕、石雕、竹雕、根雕等等，人们已经知道得很多，然而雕刻师郑剑夫用埋藏于水底千百年的乌木作为雕刻材质，却显得别出心栽，他用这种独特的材质和独特的雕刻艺术所雕刻出来的作品，成了人们收藏的珍品，以致许多收藏界人士对古沉木雕刻品作出这样的评价：“家有珠宝一筐，不如乌木一方”。
乌木就是古沉木，又称炭化木，是千百年前深埋在江河湖泊底层的枯木残根。随着岁月的逝去，枯木残根在水底泥沙中经浸泡和磨压，便逐渐改变了原来的物理性能：木质内在的脂肪、糖类等都在水中溶解得干干净净，蛀虫、细菌的生存空间也被清除，有的沉木被水底的泥沙腐蚀得丝丝缕缕，强化了肌理的材质美感，有的则变得刚劲挺拔，显示出峥嵘不桀的力度，形成了古朴凝重、铜打铁铸般的效果。其色泽也变得千差万别，有棕色、灰色、紫色、黑色，也有外红内黑或是黑皮黄心的。更有一些时间长的古沉木明显“炭化”，显现出煤样的黑色，真是奇谲而神妙。令人称道的是，古沉木不变形，分量重，密度大，好的古沉木竟然可与紫檀木媲美，堪称树中之精，木中之魂。
浙江嵊州的雕刻师郑剑夫用古沉木作为雕刻材质纯属偶然：有一次，他在一个大桥工地上发现有位妇女正在用水底挖掘出来的黑“木头”劈开来烧饭，郑剑夫拿起“黑木头”一看，见它色泽乌黑闪亮，材质肌理极具美感，他当即意识到这是雕刻的特殊材料，于是他急匆匆赶到大桥工程处的挖泥船上，用500元买了一大堆乌黑的古沉木。
得到这批古沉木后，他没有急于动刀，他对古沉木反复观察，仔细琢磨着，他认为展示古沉木的自然美感是第一要素，其次才是展示自己的刀艺，“人工极者，损其天趣”，郑剑夫深谙此道。一件好的古沉木雕刻作品应该把天然杂质的奇谲美感与人工的精湛刀艺有机地结合起来，以求天趣与人意的和谐统一，“多留少雕”，保持“七八分自然，二三分人工”才能成为一件珍品。正当他面对古沉木深深思索之际，突然又有位朋友风风火火地闯了进来，说剡溪边发现了一段乌黑木头。当郑剑夫放下雕刀和朋友匆匆来到嵊州剡溪边时，发现这段乌木已被人用火点燃，正在燃烧。郑剑夫不顾被火炙伤的危险，当即和朋友一起把这段乌木拖到溪水中，待火熄灭之后又把它拉到岸上。在金色斜阳的映照下，他发现这段乌木的纹理显得特别漂亮，分量也特别重，于是郑剑夫高兴地又把这段古沉木运到家中。
这段古沉木有1米多长，直径达45厘米，它在水底不知经历了多少岁月，多少磨劫，它的周身已被水底泥砂侵蚀冲刷得千疮百孔。郑剑夫把它放在地上左瞄右看，反复揣摩，发觉这段古沉木中孕育着一个朦胧的生命：它似乎有一个忍辱负重、勇往直前的达摩祖师形象，于是郑剑夫用手中的雕刀依形度势，在形象关键的脸部特别是那双坚毅刚强的眼睛和紧抿的嘴巴上施以刀艺，使这段古沉木上的达摩祖师形象从朦胧走向清新，其他部分他则一刀不凑，顺其自然，使古沉木固有的起伏形态及纹痕、肌理、结疤转化为达摩朝前迈步的身躯、螺旋形的须发、肩扛的包袱以及被风吹拂起的衣衫长袖。
古沉木雕《达摩》完工后，郑剑夫带着它参加浙江省工艺美术精品展，引起了广大参观者和美术院校教授及专家学者们的称赞，拿回了金奖。一位韩国客户看到这件作品后，急欲买去收藏，但郑剑夫舍不得卖，婉言谢绝这位韩国客户，不过最终他经不住翻译的苦苦劝说，郑剑夫终于勉强答应。
后来他又用当时锯下的小段古沉木创作了一尊长眉罗汉，不到三天又被跟踪到家里的一个台商买去。
目前，古沉木在嵊州剡溪被不断发现，古沉木的雕刻精品也在郑剑夫的雕刀下不断涌现。在他的悉心雕刻下，大型古沉木雕精品《书圣王羲之》诞生了，作品高达3.5米。多少个日夜，郑剑夫站在脚手架上飞凿走刀，他以娴熟的高超技艺，依形度势地掀开古沉木那层神秘的“面纱”，将古沉木中一位潇洒睿智的东晋书圣王羲之的形象和盘托出。这件古沉木雕精品完工后，书圣王羲之的归隐地金庭村即以18万元的高价将其买去陈列；他创作的古沉木雕《唐女》，让古沉木与高贵雍容、妩媚动人的杨贵妃连在一起，折射出中国盛唐时期那种大气的韵律和杨贵妃那丰满妩媚的形象。这件作品已连续捧回国家、省级的四个金奖，世界收藏家联合会***看到这件作品时，发出了“一百万也不能卖”的感叹!
古沉木的色彩虽然千差万别，但其主色调却近似于黑色。用这种色调雕就的作品深沉厚重，具有高古的气韵和深奥的精神内涵。他创作的古沉木雕《钟馗夜巡》，通过古沉木的自然黑色，一方面表现了钟馗面对妖魔鬼怪嫉恶如仇的浩然正气，另一方面也渲染了夜间巡逻的环境气氛；《人约黄昏后》则通过浓淡不一的墨色营造一种浪漫的想象空间，造就一种神秘而美好的爱情氛围。特别是郑剑夫花了六年时间创作的根雕《梁山好汉一百零八将》组合型大作品，更受到人们的青睐，其中《黑旋风李逵》的运用十分到位，古沉木那深沉的本土黑色，让李逵得体地传递出豪放、粗犷的精神气质，作品在中国工艺美术大师精品作品展期间，北京故宫博物院原副院长杨伯达称赞为“不但是精品而且是绝品”，全国人大***会副委员长李铁映也给予了高度称赞。
最近，地处嵊州市三界镇的曹娥江地段，又在挖沙中挖掘出了大量的古沉木，这无疑给郑剑夫的古沉木雕刻注入了无穷的活力。郑剑夫心头蕴藏着一个远大的理想，他希望在不久的将来建造一个“中国古沉木雕刻艺术博物馆”，将目前全国各地的珍贵古沉木及其雕刻作品汇聚到一起，进行科学的陈列展示，为中华民族的艺术大厦增添光彩。
Carving on Ancient Riverbed Blackwood
By Xu Huadang
People may be quite familiar with carvings sculpted on stone, wood, bamboo, or roots. But carvings created on hundreds-year-old blackwood discovered and salvaged from riverbeds are rare.
Zheng Jianfu happens to be a master of sculpture and happens to be a native of Shengzhou, a place where a lot of blackwood has been found in its rivers. Blackwood is actually a local term for trees buried in rivers and lakes for hundreds of years or even thousands of years. The wood changes physical attributes after long-term underwater presences. Fat and sugar have dissolved; worms and germs have been eliminated; blackwood bears corrosive marks left by sands and currents. A blackwood usually shows a strange texture: it looks as if it were iron, radiating an extremely hard, ancient, powerful charisma. Different blackwood pieces show different surface tints: brown, gray, purple, black. Some displays black color on the surface, but inside it may be reddish or yellowish. Some blackwood shines in totally coal black. Such a river-bottom wood does not warp; it has great density and therefore it is unusually heavy. A high-class blackwood piece is regarded as valuable as rosewood. Collectors now regard blackwood as precious as jewels.
So it is by no accident the sculptor Zheng Jianfu has come into possession of quite a few blackwood pieces uncovered in the local rivers of Shengzhou and become a successful sculptor of blackwood sculptures. He ran into his first share of blackwood by accident. One day he saw a woman hacking a pile of firewood on a bridge construction site. It turned out that the black firewood had been unearthed from the riverbed. Zheng picked up a piece and examined it carefully. The wood radiated a black sheen and the texture was extremely enchanting. He realized that it would be ideal for carving. He rushed to the dredger that had been clearing the riverbed for the bridge, and spent 500 yuan for a huge pile of blackwood. And another day, a friend rushed to him, reporting a beautiful piece of blackwood had been picked up from Shanxi, a local river in Shengzhou. They rushed to the river only to find that the blackwood had been set on fire on the bank. Zheng and his friend immediately dragged the burning wood into the river and extinguished the fire. They found the ancient blackwood beautiful.
Zheng Jianfu was enchanted by the latest godsend blackwood piece, which measured more than 1 meter in length and 45 centimeters in diameter. He examined and studied its time-damaged surface carefully and decided to carve a statue of Bodhidharma (?-c.536), an Indian Buddhist monk who initiated the Zen practice in ancient China. The original shape of the wood was utilized ingeniously to depict the Zen master. The statue stirred a huge sensation at a provincial art exhibition and won a gold award for its irresistible charm and inspirational workmanship. It was later purchased by a Korean collector. Zheng later carved an Arhat on the piece sawn off from the original one. A collector from Taiwan came all the way to Zheng’s home and bought the statue.
The Shanxi River in Shengzhou seems a natural treasure house for riverbed blackwood. Local people have kept digging up blackwood from the river. These new finds have provided Zheng with adequate raw materials for large-size sculptures. He created a statue of Wang Xizhi the Calligrapher. The huge statue measures 3.5 meters in height. Zheng spent nights and days exploring the mystery of the blackwood and created a statue of the arguably greatest Chinese calligrapher. As soon as the statue was done, it was purchased by Jinting Village in neighboring Shaoxing where Wang lived in reclusion after retirement.A Woman of the Tang Dynasty, a large-size statue carved by Zheng, has won four gold awards at national and provincial exhibitions. Some experts say it is a priceless treasure. Many of his statues are regarded as absolute masterpieces.
Recently, a great deal of blackwood has been dredged up from the riverbed of the Cao River in Shengzhou. These pieces provide Zheng with wonderful new opportunities to create new carvings. Zheng now dreams of establishing a national blackwood sculpture museum in his hometown in the hope of displaying blackwood sculptures from all over the country.
(Translated by David)