王湛
琳琅满目的商品、诱人的美食……要说杭州最有市井味、烟火气的地方,当属吴山夜市了。
不过,在浙江师范大学江南文化研究中心葛永海教授的眼中,吴山夜市有着不一样的含义。他认为,千百年来,为纪念吴国名将伍子胥而兴起的吴山庙会聚集了不少民俗,比如庙台戏、卖唱小曲、变戏法、耍杂技,这些都是杭州俗文化的集中反映。
葛永海说,在江南城市文化发展历程中,出现了各种类型的典型城市,而杭州当属江南城市中市民文化的杰出代表。
南宋都城杭州,曾是世界上最大的城市
葛永海说,自宋元以来,随着城市的兴起和商业经济的发展,城市市民已经成为中国社会结构中一个重要的群体,到明清以后有了更加显著的发展。
他们以城市平民、手工业者、商人、职业文人、雇佣工人等不同职业和收入的人组成了城市生活中不同的利益群体。他们共同为城市经济的进步和繁荣付出自己的劳动,同时创造出丰富多样的城市文化生活。
这就产生了有别于士大夫阶层精英文化的市民文化,即通常所说的俗文化。包括说唱、评书、小说、戏曲、杂耍等各类民间曲艺和民俗节庆活动,并形成了独特的审美趣味。
葛永海介绍,在公元1200年左右,南宋都城杭州是世界上最大的城市,人口约80万。
“宋代以来,由于生产力迅速提高,杭州得到很大发展,商品流通,街市繁华,市民阶层壮大,杭州市民文化也因此繁荣起来。宋元时期,杭州出现了江南最具特色的市民文化。”因此,葛永海认为,杭州市民文化,是最能代表江南市民文化的。
与俗文化相对的,是雅文化。杭州自然环境优美,山水旖旎,形成了以西湖为中心,融周边山水自然景观和历史文化等人文景观于一体的独特景观, 具有江南山水之灵秀的特点。
杭州美景也吸引了不少文人墨客,留下了不少经典作品。比如,白居易在晚年时期,旅居杭州的时候,感叹江南美景,写下了“忆江南,最忆是杭州”的诗句。
因此,杭州的雅文化在江南的雅文化中占有一席之地。
雅俗相融,杭州文化是有“山头”的
葛永海认为,杭州市民文化的最大特征是雅俗共体。
在杭州城内外,勾栏瓦舍之中,杂剧、杂技、讲史、说书、皮影、傀儡、散乐、诸宫调等,百戏荟萃,异彩纷呈。这些是俗文化。
杭州的雅文化也非常精彩。唐宋以来,文人雅士都将西湖视作人间至境,在杭州留下无以计数的诗、词、书、画、篆刻等文学艺术作品,许多成为千古绝唱。
就城市整体格局来说,杭州文化是有“山头”的。杭州俗文化以西湖东南的吴山为代表,雅文化以西湖北面的孤山为代表。
吴山是民俗荟萃的大舞台。历史形成的吴山庙会,卖字画、庙台戏、卖唱小曲、变戏法、耍杂技,还有片儿川、脆皮玉米等风味饮食,这些都是杭州俗文化的集中反映。
孤山则集中了雅文化的精品。除了是风景胜地,孤山又是文物荟萃之处,南麓有文澜阁,山顶西部有西泠印社,东北坡有纪念林和靖的放鹤亭,亭外广植梅花,为西湖赏梅胜地。
葛永海引用了白居易的诗:“孤山寺北贾亭西,水面初平云脚低。”
“在最具代表性的宋元时代,杭州的雅文化与俗文化相融无间,有大量的文艺作品介于雅俗之间,两者兼具。” 葛永海说。
比如,他说,一方面是俗话雅韵,宋元时期杭州兴起的通俗小说,如《卖油郎独占花魁》《金玉奴棒打薄情郎》等西湖小说,充满了文人的情感和趣味。
另一方面是雅诗俗趣,如杨维桢首倡《西湖竹枝词》九首,引得天下人竞相唱和,“民俗意味的竹枝词以文人的口吻出之,这本身就是雅俗相融的典型方式。”
温润其形刚健其心,杭州精神品格如玉
葛永海指出,若说杭州市民文化的最大特点是雅与俗的互化,那么从城市文化品格的不同维度出发,可以有不同的阐释。
他认为,就精神特质而言,杭州文化则是柔与刚的融合,是对江南文化传统的典型继承与发扬。
杭州文化的底色是婉约温润的,比如“何处结同心,西泠松柏下”的苏小小,“永镇雷峰塔”的白娘子,“人间亦有痴于我,岂独伤心是小青”的冯小青,等等。葛永海说,这些故事所反映的缠绵柔美就是西湖的性格,也是杭州文化的底色。
雄豪刚健则是杭州文化精神的另一面。这种品格同样与许多著名人物和事迹联系在一起,比如钱镠、岳飞、周新、于谦等。
葛永海一一举例,从一个卖私盐的街头浪子,到独占东南近百年的一方诸侯,吴越王钱镠的雄武有力为世瞩目,尤其是“钱王射潮”一直传为美谈。
当然,最著名的当属岳飞之墓。如清代小说《西湖佳話》的《岳坟忠迹》里写道:“西湖乃山水花柳游赏之地,为何载一个千古不朽的忠勇大英雄于上?只因他生虽生在相州汤阴地方,住却住在杭州按察司内,死又死在大理狱、风波亭上,葬则葬在北山栖霞岭下,故借他增西湖之雄。”
葛永海把杭州文化的渊源追溯至良渚文化。“良渚文化的存续年代为距今5300~4200年,属于新石器时期。良渚文化遗址的最大特色是其出土的玉器。”
在总结杭州文化的精神特质时,他就将杭州比作玉,“杭州文化的特质就如同良渚的玉器一般,温润其形,刚健其心,杭州的精神品格就是玉的品格,杭州文化的传承就是一个关于玉的不老传说!”
Professor Ge Yonghai works at Jiangnan Culture Institute under Zhejiang Normal University. Recently he has taken a close look into the cultural characteristics of Hangzhou. The following is a brief summation of his study.
Cultural development in cities in Jiangnan, the south of the Yangtze River Delta, has taken many different ways and there are diverse types of urban cultures in Jiangnan. Hangzhou has bred an urban culture characterized by the secular life of urban people.
In the Southern Song (1127-1279), Hangzhou, the capital of the dynasty, was the worlds largest city. Statistics indicate that Hangzhou had a population of 800,000 around the year 1200AD. The city thrived. Of the residents living in Hangzhou were craftsmen, traders and shopkeepers, clerks, laborers. They contributed considerably to the material and cultural prosperity of the city. The city had an entertainment industry that catered to these people. Apparently, the entertainments and recreations of these people differed from those enjoyed by the elite people.
A city of natural beauty, history and culture, Hangzhou attracted a large traffic of tourists even back then. Among these tourists were poets and painters whose creations are part of the cultural wealth of the city. This part of the cultural wealth constitutes the elite component of the culture.
The distinction of the two sides of the culture is also marked by localities. Wu Hill hugs the West Lake on the southern side and was the very center of the popular entertainment and festivities. At Wu Hill, the annual temple fair was held, where people watched all kinds of shows, and enjoyed fair foods unavailable anywhere else. Solitary Hill in the lake, connected with the outside world through bridges, represented and still represents the elite side of the culture of Hangzhou. Nestled around Solitary Hill are the Wenlange Library where an imperial encyclopedia of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) is housed and Xinling Seal Art Society, the unique one of its kind in China for more than 100 years, just to name two of all the cultural sites in Solitary Hill.
However, the two facades of the culture never stand apart from each other. In fact, there is much more in the cultural tradition of the city where the refined and the popular tastes are blended and it would be hard to tell them apart even if one tries. Romances written in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) by well established storywriters are perfect examples of how the refined and the popular tastes are one. In the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368), Yang Weizhen (1296-1370) wrote nine poems titled and the love poems caused a sensation among elite poets and ordinary readers. Yang compiled a collection of including poems by his own and 119 other poets.
If the most outstanding feature of the urban culture of the city is the mixing of the refined and popular tastes, then the cultural personality of the city can be explained in various ways. The cultural personality of the city can be portrayed in the combination of force and grace. There are stories and tales and personages of Hangzhou depicting the grace side of Hangzhou: romances and those who suffer in these romances. The force of the city is represented by heroes in history such as Qian Liu, Yue Fei, Zhou Xin, and Yu Qian.
The culture of Hangzhou can be traced back to Liangzhu Culture, which existed from 5,300 to 4,200 years ago. The ancient culture is known as a jade producer. Professor Ge Yonghai compares the spirit of Hangzhou to jade: it looks nice and feels nice, and it is tough in the heart.