煙火起成村

李郁蔥

唐人對運(yùn)河的觀感大概是矛盾的，前朝的興亡猶在眼前，而對于大的治國方略常人并不會理解，或不想去理解。隋煬帝開鑿運(yùn)河在后世看來有其深思熟慮，但冒進(jìn)導(dǎo)致王朝的崩潰卻是不爭的事實。

在我們看到的唐代詩文中，關(guān)于運(yùn)河的筆墨大都和白居易（772-846年）新樂府詩《隋堤柳》相似：“后王何以鑒前王？請看隋堤亡國樹?！?/p>

而杭州在隋唐之際，因為自然形成較遲的原因，盡管已是名郡，存在感卻相對較弱，隔著錢塘江，就是一直以來大名鼎鼎的會稽郡。為了兩地的高下之分，白居易和好友、時任浙東觀察史的元稹甚至打過詩詞筆仗。但那個時代的運(yùn)河實際上已經(jīng)成為漕運(yùn)的主干道，民間多年來稱其為隋煬帝運(yùn)糧河。白居易牧錢塘?xí)r所寫的兩篇祭神文，也與之有著千絲萬縷的關(guān)系。在多年之后，白居易寫的三首《憶江南》中，也隱約可見運(yùn)河的影子：“江南好，風(fēng)景舊曾諳;日出江花紅勝火，春來江水綠如藍(lán)。能不憶江南？”

從白居易的祭神文中，我們大抵可推測出當(dāng)年運(yùn)河湖墅段的影像。按照可以查閱到的資料，杭州早在南朝之時就已是天下糧倉之一，“大貯備之處”的“錢塘倉”業(yè)已成形，而杭州的航運(yùn)異常發(fā)達(dá)，《隋書 · 地理志》說到的杭州是：“川澤沃衍，有海陸之饒，珍異所聚，故商賈并湊?！?/p>

祈雨：唐代官員的政績考核項目

“駢檣二十里，開肆三萬室”，這是和白居易差不多同一個時代的李華在《杭州刺史廳壁記》中所記，而略晚于白居易的杜牧（803年—約852年），在《上宰相求杭州啟》中說，杭州每年稅錢五十萬緡（約占全國一年財政收入的二十四分之一），其中有相當(dāng)部分應(yīng)取自過往運(yùn)河的舟船。

白居易到杭州的時間節(jié)點(diǎn)并不好，公元822年，正逢江南大旱。大旱之年，水資源的分配就成為擺在地方官眼前的難題 ：江南運(yùn)河漕運(yùn)和沿岸農(nóng)田灌溉，都面臨無水為繼，兩者之間有矛盾之時，又當(dāng)如何取舍？

唐代有個在后世看來很奇葩的規(guī)矩，在當(dāng)時卻是一件正經(jīng)事：在吏部的考核中，官員祈雨是作為政績考核中的重要一項，做得不到位還有免職的風(fēng)險。從個人來說，白居易本身是篤信佛法的居士。

在這種種原因的促使下，白居易決定先去杭州城北的皋亭山祈雨，甚至還一本正經(jīng)地記錄在冊。早在杭州大部分地區(qū)還是一片汪洋大海時，皋亭山已兀立海上，南麓的皋城遺址中曾出土過良渚文化的鑿、刀、犁等石器及陶鼎足等。皋亭山古有皋亭神，為皋亭山周邊人的崇拜主神。

近年也有人考證認(rèn)為皋亭神是項羽的假托之神，順便一提。

白居易通知了余杭縣令常師儒，讓他準(zhǔn)備一下，并選好黃道吉日，也就是這一年的七月十六日，然后他自己開始寫作傳誦于世的《祈皋亭神文》，就在他準(zhǔn)備上山昭告皋亭神的前兩天，他的好友牛僧孺來到了杭州。這個牛僧孺非一般人，就是后世稱為“牛李黨爭”的主角之一，牛黨來自于他的姓。

祈文：白居易用上激將法

到了上山這一天，府衙里的大小官吏除了值守的，都早早聚集起來，隊伍很大，還有一些自發(fā)的百姓，大家都盼望著能夠下一場及時雨，解救大旱災(zāi)。

到皋亭山走的是水道，盡管由于連年大旱，運(yùn)河水位低淺，但出于漕運(yùn)的考量，運(yùn)河水保持著一定的水位，便于通航。白居易一行在今天的上塘河上舟向北蜿蜒而行。

兩岸煙柳如畫，遠(yuǎn)處山色青青。在白居易離開杭州后所寫的《東樓南望八韻》中，這一景色也許一直留存在他的內(nèi)心，而在文字中傾瀉出來?！棒~鹽聚為市，煙火起成村。”便是當(dāng)時運(yùn)河和錢塘江之間鄉(xiāng)村的描述。另外一首在杭州時寫的《五月十五日夜月》也可看到運(yùn)河的輪廓 ：“……春風(fēng)來海上，明月在江頭。燈火家家市，笙歌處處樓……”

皋亭山上，余杭縣令常師儒和侍奉皋亭神信眾早已備好了齋醮禮儀所需要的祭品，這是杭州當(dāng)時所進(jìn)行的最大的一場法事了。禮儀繁復(fù)而講究，所祭禱的皋亭神的牌位放在正中，香煙繚繞，燈燭輝煌。當(dāng)法師做完前面的流程之后，輪到本地最高的行政首腦主祭神靈。面對神位，背對著人群，白居易用高亢飽滿的聲音誦讀他的《祈皋亭神文》：“維長慶三年，歲次癸卯……以酒乳香果，昭告于皋亭廟神……”

這是一篇非常有趣的祈神文。白居易把神靈看作是生活中的一部分，并不高高在上，在祈文中白居易說，在此前一日曾“禱伍相神，祈城隍祠，靈雖有應(yīng)，雨未沾足”。那邊的兩個神靈沒有滿足人們的要求，所以我們改請于皋亭神。

他的言下之意也許是：皋亭神啊，如果你不滿足我們的要求，那么我們走著瞧吧！

白居易在祈文中又和皋亭神說，如果你不能解決下界百姓的這個要求，是你這個神仙的恥辱??！這都用上了激將法了，也許，請不如激！

牛僧孺恰逢其會，白居易請他上山也不是沒有目的的，牛僧孺的書法獨(dú)樹一幟，于是請其在祭神儀式結(jié)束后書寫了祈文，刻在石碑上，勒石于祭祀之處。這石碑現(xiàn)在已無從查考，大約毀于戰(zhàn)爭和時間。

但雨一直沒有下來，人心更為焦慮，這個神不行，我們再換個神吧。半個月后，到了八月二日，白居易祭黑龍神：“若三日之內(nèi)，一雨滂沱，是龍之靈，亦人之幸?！保ā都例埼摹罚?/p>

在這祈文中，白居易說，答應(yīng)吧，你難道沒有需要幫忙的事情嗎？

可見，神和白居易自己是平等的，人有求于神，神也有求于人，人與神休戚與共，同恥同榮。

但神靈們大概是出門走親戚了，或者對于他們而言，人間的這點(diǎn)疾苦算不了什么。他們是高高在上的神明，有理由漠視著這一切。

祈神：白居易驅(qū)虎終于成功

屋破偏逢夜漏雨。在祭完黑龍神后，雨沒有下，土地像是一張張委屈而焦渴的嘴，等待著甘霖降落。

余杭縣又出事了。原來一直在山中與人相安無事的猛虎下山傷人了，而且發(fā)生多起，百姓人心惶惶。當(dāng)常師儒到州衙稟告此事時，兩人商議了下，白居易一方面派駐軍去搜尋捕獵，一方面寫了《禱仇王神文》：

“……嘗聞神者，所以司土地，守山川，驅(qū)禽獸，福生人也。馀杭縣自去年冬逮今秋，虎暴者非一，神其知之乎？人死者非一，神其念之乎？居易與師儒猥居牧宰……”

在白居易這多次的祈神中，這一次驅(qū)虎的祈禱好像成功了，也許是搜尋捕獵的行為讓老虎感覺到了危險，反正老虎就此在余杭縣失去了蹤跡。

但神靈們卻沒有聽見白居易最為迫切的心聲：下雨。到了知天命之年的白居易，心里清楚，天幫忙，人努力才是出路……

在白居易整治西湖后所寫的《錢塘湖石記》中，其實寫到了當(dāng)時航運(yùn)和民生之間的矛盾，即“決放湖水，不利錢唐縣官”，“魚龍無所托”，“茭菱失其利”，“放湖即郭內(nèi)六井無水”等四“云”，是錢唐縣官吏反對泄放西湖之水接濟(jì)運(yùn)河。白居易“今年修筑湖堤，高加數(shù)尺，水亦隨加”，這也許調(diào)和了兩者之間的矛盾，西湖濟(jì)運(yùn)，在以后的漫長歲月中也成了江南運(yùn)河杭州段的鐵律。

嚴(yán)格來說，白居易的《錢塘湖石記》里，其實也有運(yùn)河的影子，就像運(yùn)河之水和西湖之水，實際上是相通的，它們潤澤了杭州這座城。

這就像白居易在杭州的一首酬唱之詩：《蘇州李中丞以元日郡齋感懷詩寄微之及予，輒依來篇七言八韻走筆奉答兼呈微之》，詩里有個人暮年壯志未已的無奈，又流露出人生知己好友相交的歡喜，其中“長洲草接松江岸，曲水花連鏡湖口”一句，意謂蘇杭本為鄰，運(yùn)河一水通。寫的時候，白居易可沒想到他離開杭州后會成為蘇州刺史。

運(yùn)河：流淌在唐詩之路上

縱觀整個唐代的詩文，浩如煙海，而明確寫到運(yùn)河杭州段的卻寥寥無幾，這大概因為杭州當(dāng)時只是通往越州（紹興）、湖州等地的中轉(zhuǎn)站。

在后世傳頌的唐詩之路上，運(yùn)河作為重要的交通樞紐，它又怎么可能少了文人的足跡，甚至可以設(shè)想，有很多膾炙人口的詩文就寫成于杭州與外郡相通的河面上，或者構(gòu)思于他們眺望兩岸風(fēng)景之際。

比如顧況和李紳都寫過與運(yùn)河相關(guān)的詩。顧況寫的詩是《臨平塢雜題》中的一首《芙蓉榭》：“風(fēng)擺蓮衣干，月背鳥巢寒。文魚翻亂葉，翠羽上危欄?！?/p>

那時的臨平又稱藕花洲，種植大量的荷花，與杭州的聯(lián)系多走水道。李紳在他的《卻到浙西》中同樣有這樣的元素：“臨平水竭蒹葭死，里社蕭條旅館秋。嘗嘆晉郊無乞糴，豈忘吳俗共分憂。野悲揚(yáng)目稱嗟食，林極翳桑顧所求。苛政尚存猶惕息，老人偷拜擁前舟?！?/p>

水道縱橫，阡陌交錯，江南的景色便這樣留在文人騷客的記憶里。在離開杭州的許多年后，有一天，在東都洛陽，白居易在仿照江南景色所建的庭院里接待客人，從杭州帶回的鶴在池塘中徜徉，友人說起杭州的舊事，他有著無限的惆悵，寫下了《答客問杭州》一詩：“為我踟躕停酒盞，與君約略說杭州。山名天竺堆青黛，湖號錢唐瀉綠油。大屋檐多裝雁齒，小航船亦畫龍頭。所嗟水路無三百，官系何因得再游？”

白居易不知道的是，正是因為他對杭州的竭力贊美，杭州湖墅段運(yùn)河詩文的璀璨年代雖然尚未到來，但很快就會來了。

Poetic Hangzhou Section of the Grand Canal

By Li? Yucong

People’s view of the Grand Canal in the Tang dynasty （618-907） was probably contradictory： they seemed to see more clearly the rise and fall of previous dynasties than the governance strategy or the so-called big picture of their time. Admittedly the opening of the Grand Canal by Emperor Yang （569-618） of the Sui dynasty （581-618）， judged by later generations， was well thought out， but an indisputable fact is， this move led to the collapse of his own dynasty.

In Tang poetry， the epitome of canal-themed works could be found in Bai Juyi’s （772-846） “Sui Di Liu” （or Willows at the Embankment of the Sui Dynasty）， where he adopted a negative and blaming tone. From Bai’s articles on prayer written when he was an official in Hangzhou， we can roughly visualize the canal’s Hangzhou section back then. Besides， according to available historical records， Hangzhou was one of the national granaries as early as in the Southern Dynasties （420-589）.

The timing of Bai Juyi’s arrival in Hangzhou was not good. It was in the year 822， when a severe drought hit the Jiangnan （south of the Yangtze River） area. In the wake of the drought， the distribution of water resources became a problem for local officials： with only a limited amount of water resources， which should be the priority， the canal transport or the farmland irrigation along the bank？

In the Tang dynasty， there was a rule — which may seem odd to later generations but was a serious matter at that time — that officials were appraised on how they prayed for rain， and they were likely to be dismissed if they failed to do it properly.

Prompted by all these factors， Bai Juyi decided to go first to the Gaoting Mountain in the north of Hangzhou to pray for rain， which was documented in detail. Bai informed the magistrate of Yuhang prefecture to prepare for the ceremony and choose an auspicious day — the 16th day of the seventh month of that year， and then he himself began to write an article on praying to the God of Gaotong， which became a well recited work that has passed on for generations.

When the big day came， government officials of all ranks， except those on duty， gathered early in a large procession， which was joined by some enthusiastic villagers. They were all hoping for a timely rain to relieve them of the great drought. They got into a boat and headed north for the mountain， accompanied by picturesque willows on both banks and verdant mountains in the distance. It seems that this view was cherished in Bai’s heart and weaved into his poetic fabrics.

On the Gaoting Mountain， the Yuhang magistrate and some faithful followers had already prepared the offerings needed for the ceremony， which was the largest one performed in Hangzhou at that time with the most elaborate rituals. In the middle of the ceremony， Bai recited his article loudly and high-spiritedly. This is a very interesting work， where Bai saw the god as a part of everyday life instead of some superior being. He even dared the god to relive his people of the miserable drought， otherwise it would be a shame for him as a god. However， it still didn’t work.

Half a month later， Bai prayed to the God of Black Dragon. In this prayer， he pleaded hard for his voice to be heard. However， the gods were not there for the people. Maybe in the gods’ eyes， this disaster on earth is unworthy of attention.

With the thirsty land eagerly waiting for the rain to fall， something bad happened again in Yuhang. A tiger that had hidden in the mountains suddenly came down and hurt people several times， and the whole town was in fear. After discussing with the magistrate， Bai Juyi on the one hand sent the garrison to hunt the tiger， on the other hand wrote another article on prayer.

In Bai Juyi’s many such articles， this one to drive away the tiger seemed to be successful. Perhaps it was really the hunting that made the tiger sensed the danger， and the tiger finally disappeared in Yuhang anyway.

But the gods still failed to hear Bai’s urgent request for rain. In his Qiantanghu Shiji （Stone Records about Qiantang Lake） written after he successfully carried out the dredging project at the West Lake， he actually wrote about the conflict between water transport and people’s livelihood at that time： “This year， the lake embankment was fixed by increasing its height for a few feet， and the water level rose therewith.” Strictly speaking， in that article， the role of the Great Canal was somehow only implied， just like the waters of the canal and of the West Lake are actually connected to tenderly support the city of Hangzhou.

Throughout the Tang dynasty， a vast amount of poetry and literature had been composed， but only a few of them are explicitly about the Hangzhou section of the Grand Canal， probably because Hangzhou was only a transit point to Yuezhou （present-day Shaoxing）， Huzhou and other places.

It is also reasonable to imagine the bulk of the most popular poems were written by the poets on the river between Hangzhou and other places， or conceived when they were enjoying the scenery on both sides of the river.

The beautiful sight of the Jiangnan area， its crisscrossed waterways and intertwined paths were thus left in the memories of the literati. One day， many years after Bai Juyi left Hangzhou， he received his guests in Luoyang at his Jiangnan-style courtyard. Watching the cranes he brought back from Hangzhou swimming freely in the pond while listening to the guests talking about the old days in Hangzhou， he felt a fit of nostalgia and wrote a poem about it.

What Bai Juyi did not know was that it was perhaps because of his generous praise of Hangzhou， the glittering era of poetic literature about the Hangzhou section of the Grand Canal would come very soon.