回家的路，你用什么丈量？
——讀《從大都到上都：在古道上重新發(fā)現(xiàn)中國(guó)》

◇ 文| 田 東

最近的一場(chǎng)春運(yùn)，剛從我們的視野里滑過(guò)。這場(chǎng)中國(guó)式的大遷徙，讓《從大都到上都：在古道上重新發(fā)現(xiàn)中國(guó)》這本書(shū)顯得尤其應(yīng)景。書(shū)中，北大教授羅新花了十五天時(shí)間，從北京健德門(mén)徒步到內(nèi)蒙古錫林郭勒盟正藍(lán)旗，四百五十公里的旅途濃縮了一段帝國(guó)的歷史，加上作者捕捉的種種細(xì)節(jié)、追憶和遐想，讓行走在春運(yùn)路上的我感慨良多。

Chunyun, the typical Chinese great migration during the Spring Festival, has just passed and it makes the book From Dadu to Shangdu-Rediscovering China in Ancient Paths come at a more appropriate time. In the book, Professor Luo Xin from Peking University spent fifteen days walking from Jian de men in Beijing to Zheng Lan flag in XilinGol League in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The history of the empire was compacted in the 450 kilometers and the details the author captured and his memory and thoughts, make me think a lot travelling on Chunyun.

這是一條怎樣的路？What road it is like?

大都，即今天的北京，元朝后來(lái)建都的地方。上都，則是忽必烈稱汗以前金蓮川幕府所在地開(kāi)平府，其稱汗后建立兩都制，以燕京為大都，以開(kāi)平為上都。乍看之下，有點(diǎn)像滿清的北京和沈陽(yáng)（那時(shí)的沈陽(yáng)叫盛京，后改名奉天）。

每年初夏天氣，麥田漸黃，暑氣已至，元帝自大都前往開(kāi)平（上都）。這條元朝皇帝們從大都到上都的路，便有了一個(gè)專門(mén)的名字——輦路。輦者，皇帝的專車，輦路，就是皇帝的專用車道。

這輦路分為兩條：去路一條，回程一條。皇帝嘛，當(dāng)然是不能走回頭路的。單面要走二十多天。羅新寫(xiě)到，據(jù)劉佶《北巡私記》記載，元朝皇帝最后一次出健德門(mén)前往上都，是公元1368年9月11日，那天朱元璋的軍隊(duì)正步步緊逼元大都?；实哿璩咳狞c(diǎn)就出發(fā)了，帶著三宮后妃一眾人等“倉(cāng)皇辭廟”，永別大都，逃命一般跑到上都，走了半個(gè)月。誰(shuí)料抵達(dá)時(shí)，上都已遭明軍焚掠，“公私掃地，宮殿官署皆焚毀”。

元順帝不禁發(fā)出“朕不出京師，安知外事如此”的末日嘆息。

Dadu, now Beijing, was where Yuan Dynasty built its capital. Shangdu is Kaiping official residence where Jinlianchuan Bakufu was before Kublai became Khan. He established two-capital systems and make Yanjing as Dadu and Kaiping as Shangdu, which was similar to Beijing and Shenyang in Qing Dynasty.

Every early summer, when the wheat fields were becoming yellow, and the heat has arrived, the Yuan emperor would leave Dadu for Kaiping(Shangdu). The road he travelled on was called imperial carriage road, which was exclusively for emperors.

The imperial carriage road has two ways, one way to go and the other for return, for the emperors cannot retrace his steps. It was recorded that it would take over twenty days for a single way. Luo Xin wrote, according to Liu Ji’s Bei Xun Si Ji(Journal of an Inspection Tour in the North), the last time when the Yuan emperor left Jian de men for Shangdu, on September 11, 1368,force of Zhu Yuanzhang was pressing hard on Yuan Dadu, so he ran away at 3a.m. with his concubines. But when they arrived at Shang du,it has already been plundered and burned out by Ming army.

Yuan Shun Emperor cannot help sighing“How could I know the current situation without going out the capital?”

為何徒步輦路？Why travel Imperial carriage road on foot?

這條幾百年前曾儀仗威嚴(yán)的皇家道路，四百多公里長(zhǎng)，羅新卻花了十五天獨(dú)自步行，而且心心念念了十多年方才成行。這是為什么呢？

十多年前，羅新讀到朱有燉《元宮詞百章》第十三首，便對(duì)重走輦路動(dòng)了心思。當(dāng)年風(fēng)華正茂，如今漸生華發(fā)。他引用了美國(guó)作家斯坦貝克在《同查理一起旅行——尋找美國(guó)》中的話——

我幼小之時(shí)一心向往遠(yuǎn)方，大人說(shuō)成長(zhǎng)會(huì)治愈這種心癢。當(dāng)歲月的流逝證實(shí)我已長(zhǎng)大成人，他們開(kāi)的藥方又變成了中年。等到了中年，他們又說(shuō)再大一些我就會(huì)降降溫?，F(xiàn)在我已經(jīng)五十八歲了，也許他們還會(huì)說(shuō)，年老了就好了。從來(lái)就不見(jiàn)效。輪船的四聲?shū)Q笛總讓我汗毛直豎，踮起腳后跟。飛機(jī)掠過(guò)，發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)轟鳴，甚至馬蹄敲擊路面的聲音，都會(huì)令我渾身戰(zhàn)栗，口干眼燥，手心發(fā)燙，令腸胃在肋骨編織的牢籠里涌動(dòng)翻騰。

2016年6月24日清晨六點(diǎn)半，羅新內(nèi)心的翻騰化作了行動(dòng)。北京健德門(mén)，他請(qǐng)路人給他拍了一張背對(duì)立交橋的逆光照片后，獨(dú)自上路了。從大都的健德門(mén)出發(fā)，到上都的明德門(mén)，一位歷史學(xué)教授開(kāi)啟了對(duì)研究對(duì)象的重新認(rèn)識(shí)，以及對(duì)心靈家園的探望。出發(fā)前，他曾一再地問(wèn)自己：“我，作為一個(gè)以研究中國(guó)歷史為職業(yè)的人，真了解我所研究的中國(guó)嗎？”

The over-four-hundred-kilometer-long royal road once standing for majesty several hundred years ago, took Luo Xin fifteen days to go on foot but it took him over ten years to do it. Why?

Ten years ago, when Luo Xin read about Court Ci in the Yuan Dynasty to the thirteen pieces, he was thinking about retracing the imperial carriage road. He was then in his prime time but he is now gradually grey. He quoted a passage from Travels with Charley, in Search of America by John Steinbeck:

When I was very young and the urge to be someplace else was on me, I was assured by parents that maturity would cure this itch. When I grew up, the remedy they prescribed was to hit middle age, upon which I was assured that greater age would calm my fever. Nothing has worked yet. I still feel urged and thirsty for a getaway.

At 6:30 a.m. of June 24th, 2016, Luo Xin set off on his own at Jian de men, having been taken a backlit photo by a passerby, and started rediscovering his research subject and visit his spiritual home. Before that, he repeatedly asked himself: “Do I, as a Chinese history profession,really know the country I have been studying for years?”

你在路上找到了什么？What did you find on the road?

這趟徒步旅行花了十五天，而寫(xiě)作此書(shū)，他花了一年。這些時(shí)間里，羅新不僅對(duì)這條于歷史和現(xiàn)實(shí)都已隱約難辨的輦路有了更直觀清晰也更感性的了解，也幫助他重返“青春與靈魂的家”。

該書(shū)甫一面世，便得盛譽(yù)。有說(shuō)它是“49年以來(lái)中國(guó)大陸人寫(xiě)的關(guān)于中國(guó)的最重要的游記”，有說(shuō)它是一本多角度的歷史大散文。的確，余秋雨當(dāng)年的《文化苦旅》引發(fā)的大散文熱潮近年來(lái)已式微，歷史為經(jīng)、地理為緯、思索為魂的文章，似乎已不受青睞了。羅新的述說(shuō)中，隱約可見(jiàn)前人的影子。

書(shū)中，一草一木，一磚一瓦，都成為連接過(guò)去與現(xiàn)在的時(shí)光機(jī)器。比如我們會(huì)知道，日本人類學(xué)家鳥(niǎo)居龍藏在1906年春到達(dá)內(nèi)蒙古喀喇沁王府時(shí)，那里的松林已經(jīng)由于過(guò)度砍伐減少了很多，不過(guò)王府附近的山上依舊棲息著虎、鹿之類的野生動(dòng)物。他居住的宿舍靠近圍墻，墻外常有狼群出沒(méi)。

盡管“掉書(shū)袋”，不時(shí)喟嘆歷史和人生，但這不是一本“沉重”的書(shū)。羅新更像是一個(gè)講故事的高手，文字簡(jiǎn)潔，文風(fēng)明快。比如這一段——

他盯了我一會(huì)兒，說(shuō)，嗯，你的身體可能受不了。我說(shuō)，是的，可能受不了。他說(shuō)，可能會(huì)受傷。我說(shuō)，是的，可能會(huì)受傷。他問(wèn)，你還是要走？我答，是的，我還是要走。他說(shuō)，那么，我支持你。

春運(yùn)路上，千萬(wàn)游子坐上飛機(jī)高鐵，開(kāi)著車，向著來(lái)時(shí)的角落出發(fā)。大多數(shù)人甚至來(lái)不及想，為什么出走，又為何歸來(lái)。

羅新的文字，似乎正在喚醒著什么。

羅新用腳走出了心中翻騰十多年的“回家”之旅，用文字喚起了出走、回歸與青春的記憶。我們呢，我們歸家的路途與思緒，又該用什么來(lái)丈量，用什么來(lái)記錄呢？

The hiking took him fifteen days while finishing this book took one year. During those days, he has a more direct, clearer, and perceptual understanding of the imperial carriage road and he also could return to the “home of youth and soul”.

The moment the book was published it became well known. Some said it is “the most important travel book written by mainland Chinese for forty-nine years”, and some said it is a multi-angle historical prose. Indeed,the great prose craze caused by Yu Qiuyu’s Cultural Perplexity in Agonized Travel has declined in recent years and writings in which history, geography and speculations running through seem to have gone out of favor. In Luo Xin’s book, the shadow of the former is faintly visible.

Grass, trees and bricks described in the book all become a time machine. For example, it writes that when Japanese anthropologist Torii Ryuzo went to Ka la qin Prince Mansion in the spring in 1906, the pine forest has reduced a lot due to deforestation but the mountain near Prince Mansion were still inhabited by some wild animals like tigers and deer. The dormitory Torii Ryuzo lived in was close to the wall and wolves often haunted outside the wall.

Despite many quotations and comments on history and life in the book, it is not a “heavy” one. Luo Xin is more like a good story-teller. His writings are concise and clear. Such as the following passage:

He stared at me for a while and said, “Well, your body may not stand it.” I said, “Probably yes.” He said, “You may get hurt.” I said, “Yes, I may get hurt.” He asked: “Do you still want to go?” I answered, “Yes, I still want to go.” He said, “So I support you.”

On the Chunyun, ten millions of people take airplane or high-speed train or driving their cars in the direction of coming. Many people even did not have time to think why they go out and why they go back.

Luo Xin seems to awake something by way of his words.

He measured the journey home on foot, which he has been thinking for more than ten years. His writing evoked memory of going out, coming back and youth. How about us? What should we use to measure the way home and thoughts and with what to record them?