茶器绝品天目碗

鲍志成

日本珍藏有三件来自中国的天目茶碗，合称“日本藏曜变天目茶碗三宝”：一为东京静嘉堂文库美术馆所藏，一为大阪藤田美术馆所藏，一为京都龙光院所藏。

静嘉堂藏天目茶碗，因原为淀城城主稻叶家所有，故又称“稻叶天目”，釉色最为异彩精妙，黑底色中散发着银色斑斓，四周又泛发着蓝色淡彩，在室内和室外观赏，会有不同的视觉效果。这茶碗仅仅12厘米直径，却能引人遐思繁繁点点的星空。藤田美术馆藏天目茶碗，是日本幕府执政德川家族代代相传的镇家之宝，也是傲视天下权势权力的象征。这茶碗是唯一内外都有结晶斑斓釉彩的一件，表面上显得朴实无华，但若以手电筒照射，便具有幻化彩虹及美妙条纹，非常引人入胜。龙光院藏天目茶碗，是三宝中最细致朴素的一件，釉彩接近油滴天目，不过仔细看，可见到诸多蓝白色的渲染点分散其间，让人联想枯寂、幽静之美。

这三件天目茶碗的釉色窑变不同，但器物的形制和大小基本一致，高分别是6.8、6.8、6.6厘米，口径分别是12.0、12.3、12.1厘米，碗底直径全部是3.8厘米。这样的尺寸，从文物鉴定和器物学的角度看，完全可以断定是出自中国同一个窑口的产品。专家学者并一致推断其制作年代是在12、13世纪的南宋时期。

世界上的天目茶碗仅存此三件，因而，它们先后在1951年到1953年，被日本政府评鉴为“国宝”，规定每10年方才展出一次。

历史上，日本的王公贵族若是拥有一个天目茶碗，身份、地位便自非凡：这碗的价值甚至可以换一座城池。那么，这些南宋制作的品相独特的天目茶碗，是怎么流传到东瀛日本的呢？

宋元时期中日禅僧往来求法播道最多，是两国文化交流中继隋唐之后掀起的第二个高潮。都城临安（今杭州）近郊的余杭径山寺，是当时中国佛教的学术制高点。以无准师范为代表的径山寺高僧大德，不仅在中日佛教（主要是禅宗临济宗）交流中发挥了重要的作用，而且对整个宋日关系也作出了很多贡献。禅宗传灯日本，开宗立派，瓜瓞绵延，以致深刻影响了日本民族文化的形成和风格特征，在众多领域，无不留下了宋元径山禅僧的历史记忆和文化印记。径山寺是日本禅宗的发祥地，是日本流派纷呈的禅宗法系的本山祖庭。正是在这一波中日文化交流的高潮中，江南禅院的茶礼法会与清规戒律一起被传播到日本，并在此基础上逐渐演变、发展成为日本茶道。天目茶碗也就在此际传到东瀛。

学界公认：宋代斗茶盛行的黑釉茶盏，最晚在南宋时随僧人流入日本；而日本文献出现“天目茶碗”的记载，迟在元代，当时称作“天目盏”。《大日本史料》所载《泊寺院打入恶党等交名文书》记载，有坏人闯入寺院，盗走公物，其中有“天目盏二只”，时在日本建武二年（1335）九月。此后，有关天目茶碗的史料记载逐步增多。

日本室町幕府时期的艺术家、茶道师能阿弥（1397—1471）所著的《君台观左右账记》中，记录了“唐物美术目录”，其中有“天目茶碗”，分别为曜变、油滴、建盏、乌盏、鳖盏、能皮盏、灰被、黄天目、唯天目等九种。“唐物”指的是从中国传去的器物，“天目茶碗”显然是对宋代流行的黑釉茶盏（碗）的统称。能阿弥是室町时代幕府将军的文化侍从，通晓书、画、茶，还负责掌管将军搜集的文物。他发明了规定严格的点茶法，创造了“书院饰”“台子饰”的新茶风，促使当时的幕府将军足利义政将宗教融入茶道，使日本饮茶真正走上“茶道”之路。能阿弥曾推荐村田珠光当足利义政的茶道老师，使后者得以有机会接触“东山名物”等高水准的艺术品，达成了民间茶风与贵族文化接触的契机，使日本茶道正式成立之前的书院贵族茶和奈良的庶民茶得到融会、交流，为村田珠光成为日本茶道的开山之祖提供了前提。能阿弥应是日本茶道的先驱。

“天目茶碗”统称的出现，有一个漫长的历史过程，相对应的中国朝代，早就不再是南宋，而是元末甚至明前期了。这也恰恰反映了日本茶道在形成过程中对宋代斗茶崇尚黑釉茶盏风尚的继承以及对同类各色茶具的包容。能阿弥在他的著录里记载天目茶碗，具有别于一般著述的可信度和权威性，可以相信，天目茶碗至少在当时日本的权贵、武士、僧人等上流社会，已经是普遍使用的名称了。

其实，“天目盏”之名直接源自天目山本地。元代天目山高僧中峰明本的《天目中峰和尚广录》中，就有“天目盏”的记载，证明当时当地的僧人是普遍使用这种茶器的。而日本文献出现“天目盏”，应该是来天目山的求法僧连同器物一起带回去的结果。中峰明本（1263－1323），是吴越地区最著名的僧人之一，也是有元一代影响最大的禅门宗匠，被誉为“江南古佛”，上至皇帝大臣，下至平民百姓，远则西域、南诏（今云南），域外韩国、日本，都争相瞻礼。他所居住的天目山，成为江南禅宗的中心。不少日本僧人纷纷前往中国的江南参学，而天目山是他们最大的目的地。根据《延宝传灯录》等记载，在日本入元求法禅僧中，“仅登浙江西天目山拜谒高峰原妙、中峰明本两位硕德的日本僧伽，就不下二百二十人”。明本道场所在的天目山寺僧所用所名的“天目盏”直接引用到日本，是南宋以降以东南地区为中心的对日禅茶文化交流的结果。而天目窑址群的发现，又证明在日本被统称为“天目茶碗”的宋元黑釉茶盏中，至少一部分出产自杭州天目山。

（本文照片由作者与沈海滨提供）

Temmoku Teabowls in Japan

By Bao Zhicheng

Japan has three ancient Temmoku tea bowls, collectively known as three treasured Temmoku tea bowls with iridescent spots in Japanese collection. The first is in the Seikado collection situated in Tokyo; the second is in the collection of Fujita Museum of Art; the third is housed in the collection of Ryukoin Temple of Kyoto.

The three Temmoku teabowls present differences in glaze and firing, but they are largely of the same size: respectively they measure 6.8 cm, 6.8 cm and 6.6 cm in height, 12.0 cm, 12.3 cm and 12.1 cm in diameter of the bowl mouth, 3.8 cm in diameter of the bottom. The dimensions, in the final archaeological analysis, indicate that they were made in the same kiln of China. Experts and scholars agree that they were manufactured during the southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279).

According to some experts, they are the worlds only three Temmoku teabowls with iridescent spots. The three were designated as national treasure respectively from 1951 to 1953 by the Japanese government. According to the government policies, they can be displayed for public review only once every ten years.

In history, Temmoku teabowls from China were highly treasured by the aristocrats in Japan. How did these precious tea utensils made in Zhejiang Province get to Japan? It turned out they came to Japan through the flourishing cultural exchanges between the two countries. During the Song (960-1279) and Yuan (1279-1368), Zen monks traveled between Japan and China. In terms of cultural exchanges, the period witnessed the second climax of cultural exchange programs ever seen between the two neighboring countries (the first occurred during the Tang Dynasty 618-906). Jingshan Temple in the suburb of Hangzhou, the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty, served as the center of Buddhist scholarship in China. The temple played a key role in the establishment of the Linji Sect of Japanese Zen. Presumably, Chinese Zen and tea traveled from this temple all the way to Japan. Zen and tea developed into various systems in Japan. The Japanese tea ceremony or Sado grew and matured. Temmoku teabowls were shipped to Japan during this period.

Scholars in China believe that black-glazed teabowls were used in the Song Dynasty and Zen monks carried the bowls over to Japan during the Southern Song Dynasty by the latest. In Japanese literature, records of Temmoku teabowls appear in the years of the Yuan Dynasty. In September 1335, a Buddhist temple in Japan was robbed of two Temmoku teabowls. More historical records on Temmoku teabowls followed afterwards.

Noami (1397-1471), a Japanese poet and painter and master of tea ceremony, played a key part in establishing tea ceremony in Japan. A catalogue of arts and crafts from China he created classified nine categories of Temmoku teabowls including black-glazed Temmoku teabowls with iridescent spots.

Temmoku Teabowl became a universally accepted term in Japanese language and historical records through a long period of history. The term became established as a general name for the bowls in the last years of the Yuan Dynasty or the early years of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), that is, long after the demise of the Southern Song Dynasty, reflecting the fact that the tea ceremony in Japan matured gradually and a wide range of Chinese tea utensils was absorbed into the system.

In fact, however, Temmoku teabowl was a Chinese name in the first place. Zhong Feng Ming Ben (1263-1323), a Hangzhou native and Zen monk, was the most influential Zen monk of the Yuan Dynasty. During his lifetime, he was venerated as the Ancient Buddha of Jiangnan (the south of the Yangtze River Delta). He dwelled in a Buddhist temple in Tianmu Mountain. Monks from Korea and Japan came to the temple to study Zen. According to a Japanese historical record, more than 220 Japanese monks visited the monk and another highly respected monk at temples in Tianmu Mountain. It was these visiting Japanese Buddhists that brought the Temmoku teabowls back directly to Japan. The discovery of the sites of ancient kilns in Tianmu Mountains confirms that at least part of the black-glazed Temmoku teabowls used in Japan were manufactured in the Tianmu mountains of Hangzhou during the Song and Yuan dynasties.□