《輿地紀(jì)勝》：宋代地志“百科全書”

文/ 潘江濤

金華磐安。傅君良/攝An aerial view of Pan’an county, Jinhua city. Photo by Fu Junliang.

浙江是中國聞名的“方志之鄉(xiāng)”。歷史上，浙江方志名家輩出，方志名作迭現(xiàn)。

金華詩人許夢熊撰寫的《與王象之書》（2021年6月，杭州出版社）是一部長詩集，是一位80后青年寫給800年前的地理學(xué)家王象之的；也是以現(xiàn)代詩的名義，完成對古人的一次對話與致敬。

王象之：仕宦子弟的輿地志趣

王象之(1163—1230), 名熺，字儀父，南宋婺州金華（今屬浙江磐安）人，系王羲之后裔。其父王師古（一曰王師亶），紹興二十四年（1154）進(jìn)士，官歷南劍州（治今福建南平市）州學(xué)教授、袁州宜春縣（今江西宜春縣）主簿、知江州（治今江西九江市）及廣東提點刑獄。兄弟七人，象之行五，叔兄王益之著有《本漢年紀(jì)》，見識超卓。

王象之是幸運的，仕宦之家的優(yōu)越家境給了他飽讀四書五經(jīng)、遍覽秀麗山水、評品地方風(fēng)物的便利，也激發(fā)了他從事輿地之學(xué)的強烈愿望。他在《輿地紀(jì)勝》自序中說：“余少侍先君宦游四方，江、淮、荊、閩，靡國不到，獨恨未能執(zhí)簡操牘以紀(jì)其勝?！彼€跟隨“仲兄行甫（即兵馬副都監(jiān)王炳），四至錦城，而叔兄中甫（即詩人王奕，有《臥龍?zhí)糜浖穫魇溃┍壁呂渑d，南渡渝瀘，歸來道梁、益事，皆袞袞可聽，然求西州圖記于篋中藏，未能一二?！?/p>

地方志，古稱地志、地記、圖經(jīng)、方志等，是全面系統(tǒng)地記述一定區(qū)域自然、社會和人文的歷史與現(xiàn)狀的資料性文獻(xiàn)，具有“資治、存史、教化”等多重功能，自古即有“治天下者以史為鑒，治郡國者以志為鑒”的思想。

王象之所處的時代，《元和郡縣志》《元豐九域志》《太平寰宇記》《輿地廣記》等地理文獻(xiàn)，不可謂不多，但都不過是“辨古今，析同異，考山川之形勢，稽南北之離合”，至若“收拾山川之精華以借助筆端，取之無禁，用之不竭，使騷人才士于一寓目之傾，而山川具若效奇于左右，則未見其書”。也就是說，上述種種地理文獻(xiàn)多為經(jīng)世濟(jì)邦而寫。王象之決定編撰一本不那么“有用”的地志，讓“騷人士才”開卷而盡得一郡名物，“以資詞人學(xué)士歌詠文字之用”。

難怪，800多年后，金華青年詩人許夢熊在細(xì)讀了南宋大量文獻(xiàn)以及近人的研究后，直言王象之的志趣恰是中國著名美學(xué)家宗白華（1897—1986）所說的“不沾滯于物的自由精神，這是一種心靈的美，或哲學(xué)的美”。

許夢熊說：“這是一種彬彬有禮的風(fēng)度。‘風(fēng)雅的人是真正的生活’，即使他們的事跡只剩下吉光片羽，也仍然讓我們追慕不已。”

《輿地紀(jì)勝》：遠(yuǎn)超前人地志研究

較之于其他地志，《輿地紀(jì)勝》有諸多獨到之處。譬如，在編纂體例上，每郡自為一編，以郡之溯源為編首，諸邑次之，郡之風(fēng)俗又次之，起到了“承上啟下，繼往開來”的作用，“地理總志的編纂才真正走上了規(guī)范化道路”。而在內(nèi)容采集時，《輿地紀(jì)勝》對郡中山川之英華、人物之奇杰、吏治之循良、方言之異同、故老之傳記，以及詩章文辭之有關(guān)風(fēng)土者，莫不摘其要而記之。尤其是將詩和駢體文作為獨立類目來注釋一地之風(fēng)俗景物，可謂地理書中的首創(chuàng)。與此同時，王象之還把一般地志中的山水、井泉、亭臺、樓閣、佛寺、道觀等內(nèi)容悉數(shù)收入“景物”門類，并對重要地名淵源作了注釋。

以挖掘金華磐安縣尚湖鎮(zhèn)著名歷史人物王象之為主題的詩集《與王象之書》，作者許夢熊。A Letter to Wang Xiangzhi, written by Jinhua poet Xu Mengxiong, is a collection of long poems about Wang Xiangzhi, a geographer during the Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279).

研究者認(rèn)為，其“學(xué)識之博，收拾之富，考究之精，會萃之勤”,無出其右，《輿地紀(jì)勝》亦因此被后人譽為“南宋地志的‘百科全書’”。

“百科全書”的客觀真實權(quán)威性主要來自王象之的治學(xué)嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)，凡200卷“皆身所見所聞也，不則寧缺如焉?！?/p>

據(jù)雍正年間《東陽縣志》記載，王象之“志行高潔，隱居不仕”。慶元元年(1195年)，王象之進(jìn)士及第，但并未步入仕途，而是回到老家，青燈黃卷，孜孜矻矻，夜以繼日地分析比較。僅“建康卷”，王象之參考的書目就達(dá)59種。一旦發(fā)現(xiàn)疑問，他便學(xué)“昔太史公上會稽探禹穴”之法，邁開腳步，實地踏勘，收獲頗豐。

譬如，在“起臨安，訖龍州”之南疆碑記中，王象之便糾正了前朝名人的不少謬誤。如原鎮(zhèn)江丹徒《梁太祖文皇神碑》，他考證后確認(rèn)是中興初年梁武帝之父作的《成都府殿柱記》。又如《嘉定府移水記》，他實地考證后知其非郭璞所書。他還考察了臺州臨海慶恩院、定光院、明智院和婺州義烏的真如院諸碑，以及福州烏石《宣威感應(yīng)王廟碑》等碑文，發(fā)現(xiàn)皆書有“會同”二字，證明了五代期間的吳越之地曾使用契丹年號。

研究認(rèn)為，紹定六年間（1229—1233），王象之將《輿地紀(jì)勝》定稿付梓，從紹定二年起前后花費近30年時間，可謂傾注半生心血。

王象之未曾立傳，也不知終于何官，王象之其個人故事，如同歷史迷霧中的一個影子?！端问贰分袥]有關(guān)于他的記載，地方文獻(xiàn)語焉不詳。初識王象之是在十五年前，一個偶然的機會，我獲贈一套中華書局再次重印的6卷本《輿地紀(jì)勝》，卻不適應(yīng)木刻豎排、繁體字、文言文、沒有任何標(biāo)點的文本，讀來如同螞蟻搬家—費勁。

有一天，我上網(wǎng)瀏覽，忽然發(fā)現(xiàn)四川大學(xué)歷史文學(xué)院博士生導(dǎo)師李勇先是研究《輿地紀(jì)勝》的專家，并有這方面的專著，便立即去電討教，李導(dǎo)師的熱情讓我感動。憑著他的研究成果，我加深了對王象之及其《輿地紀(jì)勝》的理解和領(lǐng)會。

我們現(xiàn)在讀到的《輿地紀(jì)勝》已經(jīng)佚失包括婺州、溫州、衢州、處州等31卷，這不能不說是件憾事。不過，盡管內(nèi)容殘缺不全，其學(xué)術(shù)價值仍然不容置疑。正如著名歷史地理學(xué)家、教育家鄒逸麟在《〈輿地紀(jì)勝〉的流傳及其價值》一文中說：“王象之寫此書的目的非僅限于佐人筆端而已……其學(xué)術(shù)價值不僅遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超過與其體裁相仿的《方輿勝覽》，而且不低于此前的四部總志，某些方面可以說有過之而無不及?！?/p>

李勇先也認(rèn)為，“無論就內(nèi)容的詳實該洽還是史實的可靠性方面，都遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超過了以前的《地理志》和地理總志，代表了南宋以前歷代疆域政區(qū)沿革研究的最高水平”。

Highlights in the Land: An Encyclopedia of Geographical Records in the Song Dynasty

By Pan Jiangtao

Zhejiang is known as the “Hometown of Local Gazetteer” in China.(Hangzhou Publishing House,2021), written by Jinhua poet Xu Mengxiong, is a collection of long poems about a geographer 800 years ago.

Wang Xiangzhi (1163-1230), a native of Jinhua (known as Wuzhou at the time, and present-day Pan’an county, Zhejiang),was a descendant of Wang Xizhi (303-361), the Chinese calligraphy sage. His father Wang Shigu served as a scholarly official. Wang Xiangzhi was fortunate, well-read, well-traveled, and the local scenery inspired his strong desire to engage in the study of geography. There were many geographical documents then,all written for the economic world, so Wang Xiangzhi decided to compile a book for the use of lyricists and scholars. No wonder,more than 800 years later, the young poet Xu Mengxiong of Jinhua, after a careful reading, bluntly stated that Wang Xiangzhi’s interest was exactly what Zong Baihua (1897-1986), a famous Chinese aesthetician, said, “The free spirit aspired for a kind of spiritual beauty, or philosophical beauty.” Xu said: “Elegant people are the real life, even if their deeds are forgotten.”

Wang’sis unique as an encyclopedia of geography: it includes description of beautiful mountains and rivers,distinguished people, officials, different dialects, biographies, and relevant customs noted in the poems and prose. In particular, the use of poetry and parallel prose as an independent category to annotate the customs and scenery of a place can be said to be thefirst of its kind in geography books. At the same time, Wang Xiangzhi also included all the landscapes, wells, springs, pavilions, Buddhist and Taoist temples, etc. in the general topography into the “scenery”category, and made notes on the origin of important place names.

《南里王氏宗譜》有王象之的記載，《輿地紀(jì)勝》由王象之編纂而成。Highlights in the Land was written by Wang Xiangzhi,who was recorded in the family’s genealogy book.

Researchers believe that his knowledge, research, and collection were unparalleled, and his works were praised by later generations as “the encyclopedia of the Southern Song geography”.The objective and authentic authority of the “encyclopedia” mainly came from Wang’s rigorous scholarship. All his 200 volumes “are all that I have seen and heard, otherwise it would be better to be absent.” According to the,Wang “was noble in his conduct, and he lived in seclusion and did not serve as an official”, but it was not the case. In 1195, Wang Xiangzhi passed the imperial exam with honors, but he returned to his hometown. In the “Jiankang Volume” alone, he referenced 59 bibliographies. Once he found doubts, he followed the method of Sima Qian (206 BC-220 AD) the master historian,investigated on the spot, and gained a lot. For example, Wang corrected many of the mistakes of prominentfigures in the previous dynasty. Research shows that between 1229 and 1233, Wang Xiangzhi put theto print after 30 years of hard work.

Wang never had a biography left, and there is no record of him in the. Fifteen years ago,I received a set of six-volumereprinted by Zhonghua Book Company, but one day, while browsing the internet, I suddenly found that Professor Li Yongxian at Sichuan University was an expert on this and had a monograph on this subject, so I got in touch with him. Thewe read now is incomplete with 31 original volumes about Wuzhou,Wenzhou, Quzhou, Chuzhou missing. However, its academic value is still unquestionable. Famous historical geographer and educator Zou Yilin said in his paper, “Wang Xiangzhi’s purpose in writing this book is not limited to assisting people’s writing .... Its academic value is as good as anything in the same genre.” Professor Li Yongxian also thought very highly of the.

“Hometown of Local Gazetteer” is a new paradigm of cultural inheritance. Every place retains the common memory of a group of people, with their taste of life, the feelings of the hometown, the experience of life, and the continuation of the story.