文尢曙东
图黄丽虹
落日金晖Golden Sunset
我不但憧憬诗和远方,我更眷恋的是故乡——苏州太湖山水的旖旎风光。
三十多年前,初见渔洋山风物时,我仿佛来到了陶渊明笔下的那个桃之夭夭,其华灼灼,落英缤纷的桃花源。这儿的山不高而秀雅,水不深而辽阔,更有春花、秋月、夏荷、冬雪的四季美景。望着一碧万倾的太湖之水,看着山间渔洋里古村的缕缕炊烟,留连忘返。从此每年在不同季节,我常去静谧山中观赏四时风光,澄心涤虑,放松身心。
渔洋山名源自于《赠山报恩》的故事,据说春秋时伍子胥蒙冤受辱,被楚国悬赏通缉时,有位老渔翁不为重金所动,冒险渡他过江,来到吴国。伍子胥破楚报仇后,寻找对他有恩的老渔翁,但老渔翁已殁。伍子胥便携他的后人至吴国,妥善安置在和吴宫相近的风水宝地,以“渔洋”为名,以示渔翁救命之恩如海洋之深。从此青山为凭,绿水为证,渔洋山昭示了伍子胥对老渔翁的感恩情怀。
这里是全国闻名的书画之乡,多年来结交了几个挚友,成了几十年的至交。春,竹笋、碧螺香茶;夏,蜂蜜、扬梅枇杷;秋,板栗、金橘银桂;冬,糕团、腊肉湖鲜——四时蔬果佳肴不断。这儿的朋友们都会笔底生花,水墨烟云,还能写诗、作词。闲时邀一二相知,至山坞中黄墙黛瓦的昙花庵,聆听永乐师太谈谈镇庵之宝——明肃贞皇后赠送的雕工精细、人物传神的《渔篮观音碑》的由来;品尝木耳香菇,什锦素斋。在山色空蒙,雨打芭蕉、风穿竹林的氛围中,风声、雨声、树声、鸟语声、梵呗声,无声不寂。这时让特有的寂静、安宁来抚慰躁动的心灵,不亦悦哉。
今年在“花褪残红青杏小”时分,静极思动的我,带着几分闲适之情,怀着半帘清梦,又来到了林木苍翠、百卉含英、碧水环绕、山势陡险的渔洋山巅。渔洋山在姑苏太湖之滨,山峦延绵,是太湖的一个半岛,远眺形如鳌首,一脉秀丽的青峰,高低逶迤而下,直伸入三面湖水环抱之中,突兀而立,水抱山环,相映成趣,犹如一只栩栩如生的神鳌,昂立于碧波之中。
在渔洋山顶的渔洋阁上,向南倚窗鸟瞰八百里浩渺烟波的太湖,只见黛蓝群山,或远或近,连绵起伏,山出落于水,水环抱着山;湖面之上,天光云影,帆影点点鸥水相依;太湖大桥如玉带般长虹卧波,依稀像一位风姿绰约,飘逸隽秀的江南少女,正轻舒长袖,风月无边。向北凭栏送目,群山环抱,岛屿纵横,碧水浩渺,隐隐可见如黛远山之轮廓,犹如一幅水墨勾勒,线条流畅,挥毫熏染而出的清丽秀雅的立体山水长卷在眼前徐徐展开。这时我也仿佛融入了画卷中,一种古今往事越千年,思绪弛骋任逍遥的感觉渐渐而起——浩渺无涯的湖水,涤尽人间古今的尘嚣;历经千帆的湖面,见证了吴越春秋的烽烟;翠林碧涧的清泉,镌刻了多少文人韵事。
钟灵毓秀的渔洋山,得到很多文人墨客的偏爱,尤其是明万历年间进士董其昌。遥想当年,这位擅书画,通禅理、精鉴藏、工诗文的划时代书画家,他和江南俊逸们相聚渔洋山麓,把酒临风,泛舟太湖,攀登绝顶,吟风弄月。从而对渔洋山一往情深,立下“归骨渔洋”之愿。可见这位踏遍名山大川,书、画、诗、文“四绝”的文化巨匠对渔洋山的钟爱之情。这则典故流传至今,更为吴中雅士们津津乐道。
清初文坛领袖王士祯,年轻时在姑苏探梅,夜宿太湖之滨圣恩寺,拂晓在还元阁上眺望太湖,只见晨曦中长天一色,烟波浩渺。一座形如神鳌的半岛伸入太湖,山上绿树蓊郁,苍翠欲滴,在白纱般的轻岚飘拂摇曳中,时隐时现,宛若蓬莱仙境。恍若少年时,似曾相识的梦中之境。景色之美,只能意会,无法用言语来描绘。山里人告诉他,此山名叫渔洋山。从那天起,身材魁梧的山东汉子,深深地折服于苏州太湖之滨这座充满神韵幽邃的小山,他自号“渔洋山人”。 从此,渔洋山又与文坛名流大诗人王士祯紧密联系在一起。当王渔洋的诗名响彻神州时,渔洋山也名闻天下,成为佳话。
湖畔临风,一曲吴歌,甜美悠扬的《姑苏行》打断了我的思绪。我凭栏仰看碧空天烨,白云悠然,环望太湖全景,洞庭诸山,如银盘青螺,若隐若现,真是人在画中游,姑苏好风光。直到粼粼波光,灼灼跃金,渔舟唱晚之时,仍有乐不思归之感。有人云:“拥有一片蓝天碧水,徜徉一方芳草山泉,揽取一处清风白云足已。”因而本想退休后购房于此,静观太湖朝晖夕阴,闲与渔洋山水同乐,过一段闲云野鹤般的田园生活。不料多年前,这已规划成五星级国家度假区,山中民居大多拆迁,朋友们也早已星散。随之山路拓宽,每到节日车水马龙,游人如织,已非昔日古朴山岭。少了野情逸趣,多了欢声笑语;少了莺啭鹂鸣,多了嬉娱童声。但清风明月、四时风光尚在。每每来这儿,总觉仍有新意,如同初见。
送夕阳,迎素月,我沿山道盘旋而下。回眸渔洋山,在绚丽多彩的晚霞中,青山巍巍,飞阁流丹,天开图画,更显神采。突然,李白“两看相不厌,唯有敬亭山”的名句跃上心头;口中却长吟道“我见青山多妩媚,料青山见我应如是”。
夕照里,百鸟归鸣,潺潺清泉,初月松风,一条又细又长的身影缓缓归去 ……
渔洋山景区Scenic area of Mount Yuyang
渔洋山夕阳Sunset of Mount Yuyang
I am not only yearning for poetry and distance, but in love with the beautiful scenery of Taihu Lake in Suzhou, my hometown.
Seeing the landscape of Mount Yuyang for the first time over three decades ago, I seemed to have come to the fairytale of ancient Chinese poet TAO Yuanming.Mountains here are not high but elegant, the water not deep but wide, a place with more beautiful seasons of spring flowers, autumn moon, summer lotus and winter snow. Looking at the water of Taihu Lake and the smoke of the ancient village of Yuyangli, I got myself lost in the scene. From then on, I often go to the mountains to enjoy the different scenery in different seasons to relax my body and mind.
The name of Mount Yuyang originates from the story of "Presenting a Mount of Gratitude". It is said that in the Spring and Autumn Period, WU Zixu was insulted and humiliated. When the Chu State offered a reward for his arrest, an old fisherman ventured to help him cross the river to reach the Wu State. After WU Zixu defeated the Wu by revenge, he looked for the old fisherman who had been kind to him, but the fisherman had passed away already. WU Zixu then took his descendants to the Wu State, properly resettled them by the prosperous land just like that of the palace of the WU State, and named it Yuyang (literaliy, the fishing ocean)to demonstrate that the fisherman's life-saving grace was as deep as the ocean. Witnessed by the green mountain and water, the Mount Yuyang shows WU Zixu's gratitude to the old fisherman.
This is the hometown of calligraphy and painting with great reputation across the whole nation. Over the years, I have made several friends and became confidants.Bamboo shoots and Biluochun tea in Spring; honey and waxberry and loquat in Summer; chestnuts, kumquat and osmanthus fragrans in Autumn, and cakes, bacon and lake fish in Winter; this place presents constant fruits and vegetables amongst the four seasons. The friends here all have strong capacity in writing, painting,poetry and lyrics. Invite some confidants to the Tanhua Temple to listen to Yongle,the Great Nun to talk about her greatest treasure of the temple---the origin of theFishing Basket Guanyin Monumentwith delicate design presented by the Empress Suzhen of the Ming Dynasty, and taste the fungus and mushrooms and assorted vegetarian food. In the quiet mountain atmosphere, it is filled with sound of wind,rain, trees, birds and chanting. At this time, it is so pleasing to let the unique silence and tranquility soothe the inspiring souls.
This year in Spring with "faded flowers and green apricots", I, with some leisure mind, returned to the top of Mount Yuyang with forests and flowers, waters and steep slopes. By the Taihu Lake, Mount Yuyang, stretching to the foothills, forms a peninsula of the Lake. Stretching straight into the waters of the three sides of the lake, Mount Yuyang looks like the head of a turtle, standing in the blue waves.
At the Yuyang Pavilion on the top of Mount Yuyang, looking south through the window, I got a bird's-eye-view of Taihu Lake with the vast expanse of smoke,the blue mountains far or near, as if it is holding the mountains; above the lake,people sail with shadows of the gulls; the Taihu Lake bridge is like a jade belt and a graceful girl extending her light and comfortable long sleeves. Looking north, the mountains are surrounded by waters, the islands expand vertically and horizontally,the water is vast and faint, and the outline of the mountains is faintly visible. It is like a piece of beautiful and elegant three-dimensional landscapes blooming in front of your eyes. At this time, I also seemed to be integrated into the scrolls. My mind crossed over the past and the present as if the vastness of the lake wiped out the earth of the present world. The lake that has seen thousands of sails must have witnessed the fighting smoke between the states of Wu and Yue in the Spring and Autumn Period; the clear spring water of the green forest has also engraved so many affairs of literati.
The graceful Mount Yuyang has been favored by many literati, especially DONG Qichang, the great master of Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. As an epochal painter with superb talent in calligraphy, painting, Zen and poetry, he and his fellowmen gathered by the Mount, drinking wines while sailing across the Taihu Lake, climbing to the summit while chanting poems, which have accumulated his deep connection with the mountain and helped him make the wish of burieal at Yuyang. It can be seen that this cultural master who has traveled all over the mountains and rivers with unmatched capacity in books, paintings, poems and essays, the four musts, loved Mount Yuyang. The story has passed down to this day, and it is even more popular among local literati.
In the early Qing Dynasty, WANG Shizhen, the leader of the literary circle stayed at the Shengen Temple on the shore of Taihu Lake in his youth, admiring the lake from a distance at dawn, the light of the morning sun stretching between the water and sky. The turtle-head-shaped peninsula extended into the Lake with green forests and white wind, creating a fascinating fairyland, a similar land in dreams which can't be described through any words. Local people told him the mountain was called Yuyang. Since then, this burly Shandong man was deeply impressed by the hills of Taihu Lake in Suzhou, which is full of charm and tranquility. He then selfproclaimed himself "Man of Mount Yuyang". Since then, Mount Yuyang has been closely associated with the literary celebrity poet WANG Shizhen. When his poems resounded through China, Mount Yuyang became famous and legendary.
Against the lakeside wind, a local song, the sweet and melodious "Suzhou Scenery"interrupted my thoughts. I looked up at the blue sky and the white clouds leisurely,taking a panoramic view of the Taihu Lake with the Dongting mountains just like green snails on a silver plate, looming yet visible What a wonderful picture of Suzhou. When the ripples of light faded, the last singing fishing boats reminded me to go back. Some people say: "It is so satisfying to own the blue sky and clear water, wandering along the grass and springs and taking a clear breeze and white clouds." Therefore, I initially wanted to buy a house since retirement, admiring the Taihu Lake at dawn and sunset, fishing with local fishermen. Unexpectedly, many years ago, this place was planned as a five-star national resort, and now most of the houses in the mountains have been demolished, and friends have long been scattered. With the widening of the mountain roads, it features so many tourists and cars during every festival season, the past plain mountain roads are gone.With less wild interest, but more laughters; less birds' humming, but more children running after each other, however, the breeze and the moonlight are still there.There is always something new to experience each time here, just like seeing it at first glance.
Seeing off the sunset and welcoming the rising moon, I hovered down the mountain road. Looking back at Mount Yuyang , the great natural scenery showcased vivid vitality and steepness. Suddenly, the great poem of LI Bai came up into my mind: "Admiring each other, we never grow tired, the Mountain and I". But in my mouth, I chanted "I see the charming mountains, hoping the mountains see me in the same way".
In the twilight, the singing birds went home from the running spring and the moonlit pines, and so did a thin and long figure slowly going down...
碧水蓝天Lucid water and blue sky