憶一憶湄潭浙大舊址

梅重

遵義湄潭有一處近現(xiàn)代史跡——浙江大學西遷舊址。

湄潭是深山小縣，往昔無名?？箲?zhàn)全面爆發(fā)，浙大一路內(nèi)撤，于1939年到達貴州，在遵義設校本部，第二年在湄潭設分校，從此，湄潭把浙大視為驕傲，浙大把湄潭視為神圣；66年后，國家把湄潭浙大舊址視為科學教育史的象征，入列全國重點文物保護單位。于是，我一直想去看看。

到湄潭的時候是傍晚，陰陰的天晴了。小憩之后信步而至浙大廣場。廣場不見得特別，燈影中有一塊做出來的像簡易披屋一般的大石頭，上面刻著竺可楨先生的“求是”校訓。

獨自坐久，寒意漸生，循浙大路拐茶鄉(xiāng)路，走進一家茶館店。服務員推薦湄潭翠芽，干茶扁形，比西湖龍井綠一些，開湯后浮浮沉沉，張開為一芽兩葉，品一口也鮮潔，滋味悠長。

茶客另有兩三人，店里很安靜，老板過來說話：“先生來旅游？來游湄江風景區(qū)？”他努嘴指示旁邊一桌。我搖搖頭：“也算旅游吧，專程來看浙大舊址?！?/p>

老板很驚訝：“少見，少見。先生一定是浙大人?！蔽艺f我從浙大故鄉(xiāng)來，來看浙大第二故鄉(xiāng)。

老板年輕，有頭腦，話題馬上一轉(zhuǎn)：“先生喝的是湄潭‘龍井，當年浙大農(nóng)學院用浙江的制茶工藝幫助改進這里的茶葉加工，培育出‘翠芽，直到今天都受益。湄潭是貴州茶葉第一縣呢，有‘天下第一大茶壺之稱?！?/p>

我打探如何參觀浙大舊址，老板竟能同導游似地介紹：浙大來湄潭前，竺校長曾有考察，湄潭方面組織團體隆重歡迎，準備了最好的房舍提供選用。竺校長因此說這里民風淳樸，同時物美價廉，風景又很優(yōu)美，就決定了將浙大的一部分遷過來。浙大舊址原有20多處，現(xiàn)在立碑或掛牌保護的有9處，包括文廟（分校辦公室、圖書室）、天主堂（教授住處）、萬壽宮（研究生院）、西來庵（湄江吟社）、雙修寺（理學院物理系）、歐陽曙宅（文藝活動室）、李氏住宅（學生住處）和永興分校教授住處、農(nóng)學院畜牧場實驗樓。接著，他一一具體解說，時不時提幾個名人的名字，插幾件逸事趣聞，比如教授種菜、專家放羊，比如學者品茶斗詩，還比如有更多的師生搞戒煙義演、減輕罌粟流毒。他說：“舊址多數(shù)在縣城，值得一看。有幾個在永興那邊，不看也罷?！?/p>

邊上的茶客從畢節(jié)來，這時也聚神而聽，說：“我們怎么不知道這往事呢？明天也去走一圈?！?/p>

我對老板的熱情和鮮亮的記憶一再表示感謝。他有些得意，非要換一種叫遵義紅的茶讓我嘗嘗。“不瞞先生說，其實我有一點點浙大情結(jié)?！彼D一頓說，“我爺爺曾是浙大學生，在永興分校學農(nóng)學，因為生病，1946年浙大返回杭州沒能隨行，第二年想去卻路費不濟，后來就留在了湄潭，一輩子懊喪不已，甚至郁郁寡歡。我爸爸說，浙大留在這里的教育與文化的影響很大，他上初中時的課桌椅都是浙大舊物。恢復高考后，我爸爸考過兩次浙大沒成功。呵呵，我也考過浙大，雄心勃勃的，結(jié)果讀了遵義的職院。家庭氛圍如此，我從小特別注意浙大的事情，還收集材料，有時候瞎想要寫一本書，是小說……”

我一時不知應當替他惋惜還是為他鼓勵，說了句似是而非的話：“浙大的形象和精神已經(jīng)深深浸入湄潭人的生活了。”

回到旅店，感覺心緒有點亂，推窗作寥遠之望。稀星隱去，未能入眠。

第二天去舊址，走一圈要不了多少時間。文廟維修一新，里面是陳列，以圖片和文字介紹為主，實物不多。天主堂保持舊乎乎的模樣。歐陽曙宅、李氏住宅看去像拆遷房，還有人家住著，木凳、竹籃、塑料盆擺在門口，搖頭窗上拉出電線，橫過天井。當年的湄潭老城只有一條主要街道，可以想象浙大師生在小巷小弄里穿進穿出的情形，他們平常得很，平常得就如隔壁鄰舍——

也算是浙大人的父親與鄭曉滄先生、陳建功先生有交結(jié)，談起過西遷舊事的一二：浙師院院長鄭氏喜歡做舊詩，他在浙大西遷時于浙江龍泉留下的分校任主任，詩多得專門出了集子，多年后到湄潭又是湄江詩社的中堅力量。杭大副校長陳氏喜歡園圃種豆，抗戰(zhàn)勝利后曾奉命去接收、重組臺灣大學并任校長。

住在道古橋宿舍里的一些前輩我都知道：化學系老主任王琎先生和他的夫人、外語系主任德夢鐵先生在湄江飯店結(jié)為伉儷；德先生是出生于格魯吉亞的猶太人，抗戰(zhàn)爆發(fā)滯留中國，因為精通多國語言，先在長沙軍校任教，長沙軍校遷貴州后受聘于浙大，她說“那里有很多民族，我是唯一的外國人”；王先生平日不出門，因為深愛夫人，就種玫瑰養(yǎng)波斯貓。住我家隔壁的生物系主任、副校長江希明先生和數(shù)學系主任徐瑞云先生，抗戰(zhàn)中從德國歸來到浙大，也在湄潭結(jié)合，他們終生帶在身邊的老保姆楊媽就是遵義人；江伯伯愛喝啤酒，晚飯后總是微醺地在小花園里走來走去，夏天園里長滿草本，他任由孩子們采摘夜姣姣或者野薄荷、含羞草。住我家樓上的物理系主任、副校長朱福炘先生，西遷到湄潭的一座破廟安身時，學校表彰他“沒有損壞一件玻璃儀器，沒有丟失一根直尺”，他不吱一聲然后去山坡放羊；朱伯伯家里極干凈極安靜，他不抽煙不喝酒，沒什么愛好，大約總是在看書編講義。

父親與隔一幢樓住的中文系主任、浙江省文史館館長王駕吾先生最友善。父親說，駕公研究非戰(zhàn)的墨子用力最深，在遵義卻寫了一篇《春秋攘夷說》，諷喻之深，震驚了當局最高一人，因此得意至今；王伯伯舊詩做得上佳，常送人索和，父親是不寫舊詩的，他就送來一幅紅梅立軸和一副對聯(lián)求“雅正”；王伯伯愛活動，他家和我家多有郊野之游，但絕對不選西湖熱鬧處；王伯伯晚年常由王媽媽陪伴散步小集市松木場，路上遇見我這個晚輩也端莊舉手招呼……

這些人都是響當當?shù)那拜厡W者，在我看來他們和普通人一樣不疾不徐地生活，相信一如湄潭生活時。他們平平淡淡，從從容容，從不與人道豪言壯語，甚至不知該如何談精神和使命之類，只是以各自的一番成就形成一股股潛流，影響出周邊的人文天地。

世界曾關注和討論過著名的“李約瑟難題”——中國科技為什么停滯，但李約瑟在1943年到湄潭浙大考察時卻稱譽這里是“東方劍橋”。有研究家認為，從1936年起的10余年間，浙大最是輝煌，崛起而成為著名學府。我想，西遷浙大的知識分子群體星漢燦爛，他們也許各有心愿、各有目標，但都有共同的價值觀和職業(yè)責任感，即便在國難艱辛的時刻照樣用自己的良知報效社會、報效民族，才鍛錘出了集體的形象和精神?？墒牵@種感染人的使命般的力量只停留在紙面上，生活中絲毫沒有神秘感。

若干年后，有浙大學子著詩文《西遷頌》《西征行》總結(jié)講述浙大西遷，避談藝術(shù)性，可以讀一讀作參證：也見平凡，又見不凡。

時間尚早，又去湄江邊。這里是浙大師生最愛徘徊的地方，他們曾看一江彎環(huán)煙雨，看一江如眉山影，看一江日落日出，看一江船去船回。

（本文照片由沈闊提供）

Meitan in Zunyi， Guizhou boasts a place in the modern history. During World War Two， Meitan hosted Zhejiang University in exile. The university journeyed west after Japanese invasion into China. Meitan is a county of mountains deep in Guizhou. After Chinas resistance against Japanese invaders became nationwide， Zhejiang University began to move inland. In 1939， it arrived in Guizhou and set up its headquarters in Zunyi and set up another campus in Meitan. Since then， Meitan has held Zhejiang University in high esteem and Zhejiang University has considered Meitan as sacred. In 1999， the former campus of Zhejiang University in Meitan was designated as a national cultural unit under government protection. I had long since wanted to pay a visit to the Meitan campus.

It was evening when I arrived and it was clear after a whole long rainy day. After a short break at the hotel， I strolled out to Zhejiang University Square. It was nothing fancy. In the center stood a rock monument featuring “Seeking Truth”， the mission statement of the university composed by Zhu Kezhen， the university president back then. The inscription looked fine in the light. On another rock are the lyrics of the university song written by Master Ma Yifu， a Confucian scholar， poet， calligrapher.

I hanged out at the square for a while and then I went to a teahouse not far from the square. The teahouse was quiet. There were only four or five customers there. The owner came over and we chatted. He thought I was a tourist. I said I was here just to visit the old sites of Zhejiang University. I replied， “I am from the home of Zhejiang University and I am here to see the second home of the university.” Then I was surprised to learn from the owner that the tea I was sipping was known as Meitan Dragon Well Tea. The experts of the Agricultural School of Zhejiang University had introduced advanced tea processing techniques to local tea farmers and improved local tea farming and tea output. Meitan is the biggest tea producer of Guizhou. I enjoyed the tea.

I asked the owner about the old campus of Zhejiang University. And I was surprised again. The young owner knew the story and informed me of what happened. Zhu Kezhen visited Meitan on an inspection before the campus here was set up. Local community leaders gave him a heart-warming reception and provided him with a list of best houses for staff and students. It turned out that there are about 20 old sites across the county capital associated with the university. Nowadays， nine of them are under the government protection. The Confucius Temple served as the administrative office and library. The professors stayed at the local Catholic Church. Wanshou Temple was home to the graduate students. The owner told me a few stories about the teachers and students. The other customers in the teahouse listened attentively. They were surprised， too. One said how come we hadnt known anything about Zhejiang University in Meitan. They announced that they would visit the sites the next day.

I thanked the owner for his hospitality and his precious memories. His face shone. He insisted that I have another cup of tea on the house. He confessed that he had a Zhejiang University complex. His grandfather was a student of Zhejiang University in Meitan. The grandfather studied agriculture. In 1946 Zhejiang University moved back to Hangzhou， but he didnt follow because of sickness. He planned to go to Hangzhou in 1947 but didnt have the money to travel. He regretted all his life about the lost opportunity. His father said the university left footprints everywhere in Meitan. The desks used in the classroom when he was a kid had been used by the students of Zhejiang University back then. The father tried twice to enroll himself into Zhejiang University but failed. The young teahouse owner himself tried once to get into Zhejiang University. He ended up in a local polytechnic school in Zunyi. He had been interested in everything about Zhejiang University in Meitan and had built up a collection of materials and he even thought about writing a novel based on the materials.

His story almost made me speechless. I didnt know whether I should feel sorry for him or I should encourage him to do whatever he wanted to do. Back at the hotel， I felt excited. I sat at the window and watched the starry sky. That night I was sleepless.

The teahouse owners account stirred my memories. As a matter of fact， I know a lot about the teachers and their stories in Meitan. My father was a professor in Hangzhou University， which is now part of Zhejiang University. When I was a kid， some of these teachers who had been in Meitan were our neighbors at the universitys dorms for teachers at Daogu Bridge in Hangzhou. I knew them personally and I heard a lot about Meitan from my father and these scholars. In my eyes， these prominent scholars did not set out to seek fame or fortune. They were contented with conventional life. They did not resort to high-sounding words in their talk. They did not engage in lengthy discussions about spirit and mission. But they taught and exerted great impact on people and places. They helped change the world. My visit to Meitan confirmed my impressions and understanding of these exemplary personages in my life.

The next day， I walked through the town. It didnt take me long to visit the major sites. The Confucius Temple， now fully restored， hosts an exhibition about Zhejiang University. The Catholic Church looked as old as it was. Other sites looked like houses in a shanty town. In the good old days when Zhejiang University flourished in Meitan， the town had only two main streets. I could imagine students and teachers going about in town.

Then I came to the Mei River. I knew it was a favorite place where the students and teachers of the university loved to hang out. I could well imagine what they once saw and loved： misted days， the big river bend， the mountains along the river， sunrise and sunset moments， boats coming and going.