尋一抹青黛 苗族染布工匠的返樸歸真之旅
I once saw a photo of a man with blue hands. They belonged to an artisan textile dyer, an ethnic Miao who goes by the name Han Shan, or Cold Mountain.
我曾經看到過一張照片，是一個雙手是藍色的男人。那雙手的主人是一個叫寒山的染布工匠，苗族人。
Intrigued, I requested a meeting. Han Shan said to meet him at an ancient Buddhist monastery in western Sichuan Province, on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau.
充滿好奇的我請求和他見一面。寒山讓我去四川西部、青藏高原邊緣的一座古廟裏找他。
“To put it simply, to us dyeing means life,” he said in the courtyard of the monastery, as we sipped tea under a full moon. I asked him to explain.
“簡單來說，染布對我們意味着生命，”他在那座寺廟的院子裏說。當時，我們正對着一輪圓月品茶。我請他解釋一下這句話。
Speaking in the third person, he told his story.
他用第三人稱講述了自己的故事。
He described a boy who grew up in a village in the mountains of Guizou Province and the textile dyeing tradition of the Miao people. While other ethnic groups in southern China also use natural dyes, the Miao dye is known for its vibrant blue color, which comes from what Han Shan called the “blue herb,” or baphicacanthus cusia.
他說起了自己在貴州山區的苗寨里長大的經歷和苗族人的染布傳統。儘管中國西南地區的其他少數民族也會使用天然染料，但苗族人的染料因爲能染出色澤明亮的藍色而赫赫有名。這種顏色源自寒山所說的“藍草”，即青黛。
At 18, when it was time to further his education, Han Shan, like many young Chinese, moved to a big city, Chengdu, in Sichuan, with hopes of a better future. But after a year, he had become disillusioned with China’s urban dream.
18歲時，寒山去四川成都繼續學業。和中國很多年輕人一樣，去到大城市的寒山希望能有更好的未來。但一年後，他對中國的進城夢大失所望。
One day, he decided to walk away from the city. Literally. He set off on foot, with no specific destination, let alone purpose. It would become a journey of more than 2,000 miles and 15 years.
有一天，他決定徒步離開成都。實打實地用腳走。沒有明確的目的地，更別說意圖。這一走就是15年，行程超過2000英里（約合3200公里）。
“I wanted to explore an unknown world,’’ he said. “To put it simply, I started walking because I was bored.”
“我想探索未知的世界，”他說。“簡單來說，我開始行走是因爲我感到厭倦了。”
In the years that he walked across Tibet, Xinjiang, Gansu, Ningxia and Yunnan, nearly 445 million people moved from China’s countryside to the city. Average incomes jumped to nearly $8,000, from less than $1,000 a year. For most people, life had rapidly transformed for the better.
在他徒步穿越西藏、新疆、甘肅、寧夏和雲南的這些年裏，中國近4.45億人從農村搬往城市。人均年收入從不到1000美元，增加到了近8000美元。對大部分人來說，生活迅速向好的方向發展。
But not for Han Shan. He remained in China’s past.
但對寒山來說不是。他仍活在中國的過去。
When asked how he spent his time over those 15 years, he decided it would be best to demonstrate.
被問及過去15年是如何度過的時，他覺得最好通過親自演示來說明。
The next day, we set off through tea fields, bamboo forests and mountain paths. Along the way, he picked wildflowers, explaining their properties. “This flower can be used as a red dye,” he said, throwing one into a basket on his back.
第二天，我們出發穿過了一片片茶園和竹林，走過一條條山間小道。他把沿途的野花采集起來，解釋它們的特性。“這種花可以作爲紅色染料，”他一邊說，一邊把一株花扔進背上的揹簍裏。
In Han Shan’s view, China’s modernization has come at a price: Society has lost its connection with nature. “We are developing so fast, we have forgotten where we came from,” he said. “Materialism is one of the core things that keep people away from nature.”
在寒山看來，中國爲現代化付出了代價：社會失去了與自然的聯繫。“我們發展得這麼快，都忘了自己是從哪裏來的了，”他說。“物質主義是導致人們遠離自然的根源之一。”
For him, this carries dangers: “In Taoism we say: After the moon waxes, it wanes. Prosperity is the prelude to decline. Everything collapses when it reaches such extremes.”
在他看來，這很危險：“道家常說：月盈則虧。繁榮是衰落的前奏。所有事物都會在到達極致時坍塌。”
His answer to China’s materialistic society has been to retreat to this village, Mingyue, on the outskirts of Chengdu, where he cultivates a simple life. Ironically, perhaps, he survives by selling the clothing he dyes to the same people he considers too materialistic.
對於中國的物質社會，他的解決辦法是回到成都郊區的明月村。在這裏，他過着簡單的生活。或許有些諷刺的是，他要把自己染的布賣給那些被他認爲太過物質的人，並以此爲生。
The dyeing tradition was passed to him from his mother and to her, from many generations of Miao before. Now Han Shan has carried the tradition from Guizhou to Mingyue, where artists and free spirits like himself are creating a new space for themselves. Now, even some local villagers have taken up the dyeing trade.
染布的傳統是母親傳給他的，而他母親則是從之前的無數代苗人那裏繼承下來的。如今，寒山把這項傳統從貴州帶到了明月村。在這裏，藝術家和像他這種崇尚精神自由的人正在爲自己創造一個新的空間。現在，就連當地的一些村民也做起了染布的生意。
Urbanites armed with selfie poles and shiny new cars seeking a weekend getaway drop by to buy the naturally made clothes. Their purchases are putting food in Han Shan’s stomach, a roof over his head and a smartphone in his pocket.
帶着自拍杆、開着閃閃發亮的新車、希望利用週末度假放鬆的城裏人會順便來村裏買手工做的衣服。和他們之間的買賣讓寒山有東西吃，有地方住，兜裏還裝上了智能手機。
The natural dyes may have represented life to the Miao people, a connection to the natural world, but now those same dyes are Han Shan’s actual lifeline — his livelihood. Even those willing to walk thousands of miles cannot entirely avoid materialism’s reach.
對苗族人來說，天然染料可能象徵着生命，是他們與自然界之間的紐帶。但現在，這些染料真的成了寒山賴以生存的依靠，是他的生計。即便是願意徒步幾千英里的人，也無法完全避開物質主義的影響。
