一九四九年底，沈從文封筆，告別了以《邊城》聞名的小說家身分。然而，這變化並未毀滅他的創作，造物轉給了我們另一個沈從文，另一種形式與形態的－藝術研究的沈從文。沈從文的轉行，許是歷史的參差，但他投入文物研究的熾熱情感，卻示範了另一種典型，引導與他同樣質地素樸的汪曾祺，在小品文的創作上成績斐然。這對師生結緣超過半世紀，在他們的賞玩書寫中，社會主義時代的煙硝火氣，消失在古典織錦上的雲靄團團。論物寫物，「物」是他們研究深究的體，卻也同樣傾注透視歷史的厚度；「物」的研究與書寫，前有宋、明諸家，近有周作人。他們究竟以「物」作為人世遁逃之所，還是作為救贖？這二者之問的方寸反覆，將是本文關注的焦點。
Shen Cong-Wen stopped writing at the end of 1949, bidding farewell to his role as a renowned fiction writer known for his novel "Border Town". However, the change has not destroyed his creativity, but instead his fate has transformed him into another Shen Cong-Wen, an art connoisseur. His transformation may be caused by inevitable historical factors, but the way he plunged himself into the study of art has demonstrated himself as a model to initiate Wang Zeng-Qi, another writer-artist of the same vein who was under Shen's influence and tutelage for more than half a century. Both Shen-Wang's writings on material culture or "elegant things" transcended and tempered the tempestuous world of socialist struggles into rolls of classical embroidered silk. They delved into "things" and described "things". Things have become a substance of their narratives with a historical perspective that range from the material writings of Song-Ming literati to Zhou Juo-Ren of the early twentieth century. This article will focus on the interchanging aspects of escapism and redemption that vacillate and swing like a pendulum in the mentality of these writers.
