遺址的魅力

強雯

前段時間，三星堆遺址重大考古發(fā)現(xiàn)震驚世界，也讓考古再成熱門話題。其實巴蜀大地上的古代遺址何其多，除了三星堆遺址，還有瀘州宋墓遺址、金沙遺址等，早已被列為國家重點文保單位。

遺址背后，一方一土一窟一佛，無不在與古老文明的各種關(guān)聯(lián)中衍射出非凡的意義。故此，近年來，一些考古愛好者、作家，以更為私人的立場、角度走進這些古代密碼場，以自己的方式理解、寫作、推廣認知。尤其是將考古、遺址、博物館、文物結(jié)合起來，以作家視野來串聯(lián)、地理情結(jié)來鋪陳，則具備了旅游、探秘、大眾考古、鉤沉方志的綜合魅力。

廣西師范大學(xué)出版社今年1月出版的《尋蜀記》即是如此。

《尋蜀記》中，古遺址的時間跨度從先秦到明清，涉及的遺址、墓葬品是巴蜀一帶十分有代表性的，比如寶墩遺址、瀘州宋墓、巴蜀漢闕、皇宮寺院等。好些遺址都已被媒體反復(fù)報道過，但作者仍舊能從中提煉出深度、新意，這和他能實地走訪，并以記者的身份接觸到當(dāng)?shù)匚墓芩ぷ魅藛T，介入第一現(xiàn)場不無關(guān)系。

比如在合江墓葬群，作者介入了現(xiàn)場，也有了采訪的痕跡，看到了當(dāng)?shù)剞r(nóng)民搬運石棺。但是作者因為石棺極其貴重而將其喻為“金棺”，又沒有為金棺一詞打引號，從考古角度講，這種比喻既不嚴謹，也無必要。但這是媒體慣用的方式，大眾媒體喜歡，有眼球效應(yīng)，這篇稿子就曾發(fā)表在《中國國家地理》上。把這些期刊上發(fā)表的文章結(jié)集成書，是好事，但成書依然對合江金棺不加引號，是為有造噱頭的不謹。

2020年底，我參觀了合江縣漢代畫像石棺博物館，石棺規(guī)模宏大，精品石棺用透明玻璃柜相隔，有《山海經(jīng)》圖畫般的《神靈異獸圖》，顯示升天流程的《拜謁圖》……單單是看這些石棺畫像也能品味幾天，而作家尤其需要對物的凝視，這種凝視是安靜的、不能被共享的，由此闡發(fā)幽思，更能進入一個空靈的思想境地。

從這一點上講，看了《尋蜀記》，既佩服作者去過的地方之多之全、有一網(wǎng)打盡之態(tài)，但也正因此有些遺憾?；蛟S是太疲于奔波，作者在思考層面是不夠的。

以四川瀘縣的龍橋為例，瀘縣境內(nèi)有明清龍橋141座，我曾購買過一本《四川重慶古建筑地圖》，按圖索驥到實地探訪才發(fā)現(xiàn)，要真正跑完，是不現(xiàn)實的。書中提到的與龍有關(guān)的梁橋如龍腦橋、苦橋子橋、萬壽橋、永濟橋、順對大橋都特別分散，分屬不同的鄉(xiāng)鎮(zhèn)，相隔二三十公里的山路，幾乎要跑40分鐘到一個小時。

如果只是蜻蜓點水，跑遍大部分龍腦橋，不僅消耗精力，而且并非每座橋都是“宏大的、唯美的”，它們普普通通地散落在田野中，歷經(jīng)辛苦找到后，越發(fā)覺得難掩失望。就算選取重點的幾個龍橋，也頗費精力，往往也只能是打卡式到訪。最好的方式是每次只去一個橋，和當(dāng)?shù)厝肆牧奶?，沉浸式地體會，讓時間來充盈思古之幽。一天之內(nèi)趕完橋群或許可以，但真的沒有什么時間來醞釀感情。

所以，對于作者來說，求全既是他作為記者的優(yōu)勢，也是劣勢。作者蕭易早年在成都一家報社工作，因工作需要寫一些考古或博物館的稿子，后來漸成一家。我也曾在媒體工作，十分清楚跑口記者的工作流程，有的時候，記者對一個遺址并無激情或愉悅，但因工作使然，需要趕工，而且稿子往往要寫得很美，讓人看了馬上就要趕過去。這固然有煽情的成分，但也是媒體向大眾進行傳播的責(zé)任。

相對與媒體人的全知全能，我一直覺得作家的使命，是需要在尋訪中帶入更多的個人情感和智識，哪怕是偏見，也是一種力量。

辛苦萬千跑到一個遺址，現(xiàn)實的感受往往是失落，其真實的破舊、衰敗、不起眼，遠遠大于設(shè)想中的驚喜、華美。即便有，也不多，但不少寫作者筆下生花，會抹去尋訪過程中真實的酸澀、無趣。從事過這種寫作套路之后，有時難免會自我紓解，再苦再累的探秘、尋訪，最后寫出來都是美的，可見寫作與發(fā)表都是驅(qū)動力。這種寫作，我稱之為耽美的地理寫作，無異于糖水片。

我認為好的地理探尋的寫作，是將辛酸、跋涉與嚴謹?shù)目疾旖Y(jié)合起來，不夸大其中的美好，也不回避過程的瑣碎無聊，這是田野考察本來的樣子。比如日本作家伊東忠太的《中國紀行》，英國作家E.H.威爾遜在一百年前寫的川西之旅《中國乃世界花園之母》。

當(dāng)然，作為一本普及大眾的考古圖書，從大眾可讀性上，《尋蜀記》還是可圈可點的，因為它在講故事，而且講得也很好看，夾著不少知識點。對于公眾來說，這就是閱讀的動力。而且，它基本上提及了四川境內(nèi)所有重要的遺址、文物群，也可以當(dāng)作一本地理旅游書來看。拋開大眾景點，至少書中還提供了人文旅游的路線，比如德陽的三星堆遺址博物館、合江漢代畫像石棺博物館、渠縣的漢闕群、雅安博物館、金沙遺址博物館、平武報恩寺等。

揣著這本書，進入一個省市漫游，你會涌起對作者的敬佩。也許你的漫游體驗和書中完全不同，但這不重要，它的導(dǎo)航功能已經(jīng)完成。

當(dāng)然，我們又認識了一個生機勃勃的地理作家，這個1983年出生的蕭易，已經(jīng)出過七八本與當(dāng)?shù)匚氖贰⒌乩碛嘘P(guān)的作品，他用年輕人的腳和手，拓展了大眾考古行業(yè)的寫作路數(shù)。

The major archaeological discovery at the Sanxingdui Ruins several days ago shocked the world and made archaeology a top trending topic again. In fact， the Sanxingdui Ruins is only a drop in the ocean of the ancient sites in Sichuan. In addition to that， there are also the Luzhou Song Dynasty Tomb Site and Jinsha Site， which have long been listed as national key cultural protection units.

Every land， cave and statue of Buddha at the sites has huge implications in connecting with the ancient civilization. That’s why some archaeological enthusiasts and writers have approached these ancient fields from a more private standpoint to write and promote cognition in their own way. In particular， a combination of archaeology， ruins， museums and cultural relics made by writers， plus geographical knowledge， has gained the comprehensive charm of tourism， exploration， mass archaeology and local chronicles.

This is especially true concerning the book Discovering Sichuan published by Guangxi Normal University Press in January this year.

In the book， the ancient sites span from pre-Qin to Ming and Qing Dynasties， and the sites and tombs involved are very representative in Sichuan， such as Baodun Site， Luzhou Song Tomb， Han-Dynasty Watchtower in Ba-shu area， Imperial Palace Temple， etc. Despite that many sites have been repeatedly reported by the media， the author can draw fresh ideas from them， which has been largely fueled by his field visits， interactions with the staff of the local cultural authorities as a reporter， and intervention in the frontline.

For example， the author has visited the site of Hejiang Tombs in person， seeing and interviewing local farmers carrying sarcophagus. Because of the preciousness of the sarcophagus， the author likens it to a "golden coffin" but did not quote the word "golden coffin". From an archaeological point of view， this metaphor is neither rigorous nor necessary. However， this is the usual form of the media as it is eye-catching. This manuscript was published in the Chinese National Geography. It is a good thing to collect the articles published in these journals into a book， but the failure to add the quotation mark in the book is a gimmick， which is not rigorous.

By the end of 2020， I visited the Han Dynasty Portrait Sarcophagus Museum in Hejiang County. The sarcophagus is large in scale， separated by transparent glass cabinets， painted with "gods and animals" like that in the Classic of Mountains and Seas and the process of going up to heaven described in the painting work A Formal Visit ... One can appreciate these sarcophagus portraits for a few days. And writers， by observing them in a quiet and exclusive manner， can gain more inspiration and thus entering an ethereal ideological realm.

From this point of view， after reading Discovering Sichuan， while admiring the number of places the author has been， I also feel a wave of regret. Perhaps due to the tight schedules， the author lacks depth in thoughts.

Take the Bridge of Dragons in Lu County， Sichuan as an example. There are 141 such bridges in Ming and Qing Dynasties in Lu County， according to the book Ancient Buildings in Chongqing and Sichuan I once bought. It’s just unrealistic to visit each and every of them. The dragon-related beam bridges mentioned in the book， such as Longnao Bridge， Kuqiaozi Bridge， Wanshou Bridge， Yongji Bridge and Shundui Bridge， are scattered and belong to different villages and towns， located 20 to 30 kilometers apart from each other， about 40 minutes to 1 hour of walk.

Visiting every bridge is not only time-consuming but may be disappointing， as not every bridge is "grand and beautiful"， but they are are scattered in the fields. Even visiting a few of them may be exhausting， only to end up giving each a hurried and cursory glance. The best way is to visit only one bridge at one time， chatting with the localities and immersing yourself there. Rushing about all bridges in a single day seems possible yet makes no sense.

Therefore， for the author， seeking full coverage is both his advantage and disadvantage as a reporter. Xiao Yi， the author of the book， who worked for a newspaper in Chengdu in his early years， was required to write for some archaeological research institutes and museums due to work reasons and had gradually formed his own style of writing later. Once engaged in media for a while， I know very well the workflow of reporters. Sometimes， reporters have no passion for or interest in any site， but have no other choice but to paint a wonderful tapestry of words to conjure it up so as to attract visitors for it. Sensational though， they are just fulfilling their duties as media people to spread information to the public.

Compared with the omniscient nature of media people， I have always felt that writers should regard it as their mission to bring more personal feelings and intelligence into any journey， and even prejudice can give people power.

Traveling all the way to a site is often proved to be disappointing， ending up seeing shabby， decaying， and inconspicuous sites， rather than gorgeous ones. Even if gorgeous sites are found， the back-busting， boring process for discovery may be left out by many writers to show off their talents in writing. Once this writing formula is adopted， any writer is apt to beautifying the tortuous exploration process. As a result， everything ends up beautiful. It can be seen that both writing and publishing are driving forces for writers. This kind of writing style， which I call the literature for boy’s love in the geographical world， is nothing more than a go-to bad movie.

A good geographical exploration writer is he who combines bittern and trekking process with the rigorous investigation， without exaggerating the beauty or avoiding the triviality and boredom. This is the way field investigation is. To name some works of this type， Japanese writer Tadashi Ito’s A journey to China and British writer E.H. Wilson’s China， Mother of Gardens （about the journey in Western Sichuan）， written 100 years ago.

Of course， as a guidebook for archaeology for the public， Discovering Sichuan is remarkable in terms of its readability， thanks to its fascinating story-telling techniques， plus some basic knowledge. For the public， this is what drives them to read. Moreover， it basically mentions all the important sites and cultural relics in Sichuan， and thus can be used as a tourism book. Apart from popular scenic spots， the book also provides routes for cultural tourism， such as the Sanxingdui Museum in Deyang， Han Dynasty Portrait Sarcophagus Museum in Hejiang， Han-Dynasty Watchtower in Qu County， Ya’an Museum， Jinsha Site Museum， Bao’en Temple in Pingwu， etc.

Visiting any city carrying this book， you will feel admiration for the author. Maybe your experience is completely different from that in the book， but it doesn’t matter， as its navigation function has been realized.

Of course， through this book， we get to know a vibrant geography writer named Xiao Yi. Born in 1983， he has published seven or eight works related to local literature， history and geography. He is bringing new blood into the writing techniques of popular archaeology.