“西湖”之名由他而來

葉璐

2020年金秋，杭州優(yōu)秀傳統(tǒng)文化叢書首發(fā)儀式在杭州市民中心舉行。整套叢書的內(nèi)容，涵蓋城史文化、山水文化、名人文化、遺跡文化、辭章文化、藝術(shù)文化、工藝文化、起居文化、風(fēng)俗文化、思想文化等方面，既有全面展示，又有亮點(diǎn)凸顯。

而中國作家協(xié)會會員、詩人李郁蔥所著的《江南憶，最憶白樂天》，則是其中我比較喜歡的一本。本文可算是對該書的一段賞析吧。

且向錢塘湖上去

公元772年2月28日，白居易出生于河南新鄭的一個大戶人家。他自幼天資過人，16歲便吟出了驚艷大唐的千古名句：

離離原上草，一歲一枯榮。

野火燒不盡，春風(fēng)吹又生。

遠(yuǎn)芳侵古道，晴翠接荒城。

又送王孫去，萋萋滿別情。

公元822年的夏天，當(dāng)時還是左拾遺的白居易被朝廷任命為杭州刺史。刺史，相當(dāng)于今天的市長。能夠遠(yuǎn)離朝堂，白居易感到很開心。在這之前，他已經(jīng)上奏了很久，要求外放，如今終于實現(xiàn)了。

為何白居易要放棄天子近臣的職位，遠(yuǎn)走外鄉(xiāng)呢？書中寫道：

“少了那些蠅營狗茍和利益團(tuán)體的掣肘，他也許能夠做一些實事。這也是多方政治勢力博弈的結(jié)果，畢竟，后世說的‘東南形勝，三吳都會的杭州此時也已是帝國重鎮(zhèn)，但相對于長安、洛陽、建康（今南京）、江都（今揚(yáng)州）、江陵（今荊州）、會稽（今紹興）等老城而言，當(dāng)時的杭州城并不矚目?！?/p>

而另一個讓他有所期待的原因是：

“這兩年，曾經(jīng)是好友的裴度和元稹齟齬不斷，元稹罷相，目前為同州刺史，有傳言說將轉(zhuǎn)任浙東觀察使，官署在越州（今紹興）。而此時，白居易的外放要求得到實現(xiàn)本身就很微妙，當(dāng)然，相交莫逆的兩人同在浙江更是一件值得慶幸的事?！?/p>

經(jīng)歷了3個月的跋山涉水后，從富春江入城，白居易一家終于抵達(dá)杭州。

“一道殘陽鋪水中，半江瑟瑟半江紅?？蓱z九月初三夜，露似真珠月似弓?！薄扒蚁蝈X塘湖上去，冷吟閑醉二三年。”這一路的山水盛景，令白居易釀就了許多經(jīng)典詩作。

讓白居易如愿以償?shù)爻蔀楹贾荽淌罚巧咸鞂Π拙右椎木祛?而給杭州選了白居易掌政，則是上天對杭州的眷顧。隨著這位“詩人市長”的到來，杭州也迎來了新一輪的發(fā)展。

綠楊陰里白沙堤

湖光山色固然動人心魄，只是白居易到杭州時老天爺卻給了他個下馬威。

這在白居易走入杭州城的那一刻已有所感覺：這個城里走動著的人，他們臉上所散發(fā)出的氣息，不是一個魚米之鄉(xiāng)的正常味道。

他從下屬處得知，杭州遇上了持續(xù)干旱，民生凋敝。坐擁錢塘江、富春江這樣的浩蕩江水，城里也有西湖，杭州為什么還會發(fā)生旱荒？《江南憶，最憶白樂天》一書中，交代了白居易實地調(diào)查后得出的結(jié)論：

“原來西湖并沒有得到根本整治，這湖是：一旦遇到干旱天氣，西湖水淺到不夠灌溉農(nóng)田;但如果遇到洪澇天氣，又會致使湖水泛濫，杭州城里一片汪洋?！?/p>

于是，白居易到杭州之后的第一件事就是治理西湖。

當(dāng)時的西湖和我們今天看到的西湖有些不同，作者在書中有作介紹：

“在與白堤相連的湖東北地區(qū)，當(dāng)時有一個和西湖相通、規(guī)模與之相仿的大湖泊，稱為下湖。而西湖也曾經(jīng)相對被稱為上湖，但應(yīng)該是沼澤地貌為主，風(fēng)光和上湖不可同日而語。明人記載：漢唐之交，杭州城市未廣，東北兩隅，皆為斥鹵，江水所經(jīng)。”

白居易決定在下湖和上湖之間修建攔湖大堤。盡管反對意見不少，但不同于他詩人的身份，白居易展現(xiàn)了作為政治家的素質(zhì)，也向同僚展示了他的決心和魄力。他把計劃和前景一一呈現(xiàn)，這種解釋也讓人們相信：

“湖堤筑成后，西湖的蓄水量與放湖水灌農(nóng)田的實際功能是可以實現(xiàn)的，因為白居易和他找到的水利專家對此作了細(xì)密的測算，并曾帶著下屬們實地勘察。設(shè)想中的一些細(xì)節(jié)同樣具有說服力，比如說在攔湖堤壩的南北各設(shè)大水門，一旦啟用，則提前規(guī)定有關(guān)供水手續(xù)，采用當(dāng)天申請當(dāng)天有效的辦法。此外，在湖水放水的情況下，把位于東北的臨平山腳下的鼎湖之水引進(jìn)官河……”

在治理西湖的同時，白居易還疏浚了40年前杭州刺史李泌所開的六井，解決了杭州百姓飲水難的問題。

一連串的民生困擾得到解決后，白居易才緩下步調(diào)，享受杭州城的美景。牽馬漫步于白沙堤上，一首讓湖山增色的《錢塘湖春行》從口中吟出：

孤山寺北賈亭西，水面初平云腳低。

幾處早鶯爭暖樹，誰家新燕啄春泥。

亂花漸欲迷人眼，淺草才能沒馬蹄。

最愛湖東行不足，綠楊陰里白沙堤。

在很多年后，由于杭州地理環(huán)境的改變，白居易主持修建的那條堤已經(jīng)湮沒。但人們沒有忘記這位刺史，于是索性將錯就錯把白沙堤稱為白堤。

而西湖的美名，也隨著白居易一首又一首的詩詞的傳播而開始遠(yuǎn)揚(yáng)，逐漸成為江南名湖，世界名湖。

取得兩片石

美好的日子總是短暫的。公元824年5月，53歲的白居易即將離開杭州。

杭州城的百姓對這個一心為民的刺史自然是依依不舍。作者在書中再現(xiàn)了白居易離開杭州時萬人相送的情景：

“涌金門外，西湖邊上，擠滿了要為他送行的百姓，沒有人組織，沒有人吆喝，人們扶老攜幼，提著酒壺為他送行。根據(jù)記載和杭州市民的口口相傳，這一幕在當(dāng)年送別李泌時也曾經(jīng)出現(xiàn)過。

白居易是容易感動的人，一開始他站在車轅上，揮手向百姓們致意，后來看看實在不能推辭，索性下了馬車，緩緩走著。他又是個性格爽利的人，百姓敬上的酒，小杯大口他來者不拒，白發(fā)老者，垂髫小童……在杭州人民的夾道相送中，從涌金門出發(fā)至江邊官道，區(qū)區(qū)兩里，白居易他們的馬車走了一個上午。白居易有點(diǎn)醺醺然，不知道是因為酒還是因為百姓的熱情?！?/p>

白居易在杭州擔(dān)任刺史3年，留下了一湖清水、一道芳堤、六井清泉、200多首詩的寶貴財富。無論是杭州的民生工程，還是對杭州的文化傳播，白居易的成績斐然。

但他離開杭州時，卻和來時一樣，一駕馬車，簡簡單單。他把節(jié)衣縮食積攢下來的官俸都留給了官庫，唯一帶走的，是西湖邊的兩塊石頭和孤山寺的一只仙鶴?？伤X得自己為杭州百姓做得還不夠多，回洛陽后，在老友劉禹錫面前深深自責(zé)：

“白居易遞給劉禹錫的，就是流傳到后世的《三年為刺史》，共兩首，詩寫得雋永，但又淺出，一首是：‘三年為刺史，無政在人口。唯向郡城中，題詩十余首。慚非甘棠詠，豈有思人不？另外一首是：‘三年為刺史，飲冰復(fù)食檗。唯向天竺山，取得兩片石。此抵有千金，無乃傷清白？

第一首很謙虛，好像午夜夢回，醒轉(zhuǎn)時，突然想知道他所思念的地方有沒有人思念他;第二首卻是一種自責(zé)和辯解?！?/p>

白居易在杭州的日子雖然不長，但他片刻不能忘記杭州，忘記西湖。

后來，當(dāng)好友姚合去杭州當(dāng)刺史時，他對姚合千叮萬囑，那一湖水一定要保護(hù)好，還寫了《杭州回舫》寄給姚合：“自別錢唐山水后，不多飲酒懶吟詩。欲將此意憑回棹，與報西湖風(fēng)月知?！?/p>

“西湖”由此成名。

當(dāng)姚合杭州刺史3年任期結(jié)束歸來時，白居易在招待姚合的家宴上，帶著對杭州的日夜?fàn)繏旌蜔o法回去的遺憾，吟誦出了讓杭州人民深深動容的不朽詩篇——《憶江南》：

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？

江南憶，最憶是杭州：山寺月中尋桂子，郡亭枕上看潮頭。何日更重游？

這一年，白居易66歲，身體已經(jīng)老邁衰頹，他重游的想法只能在夢中實現(xiàn)了……

Bai Juyi （772-846）， one of the best known Tang poets in the history of Chinese literature， was appointed Hangzhou governor in the summer of 822. He had submitted a request for an appointment away from the capital of the dynasty for a long while. He was happy that the request was approved. There have been guesses at why Bai chose to quit a court job and exile himself from the center of politics to a remote place and there have been suggestions.

It took Bai three months to reach Hangzhou. The poems he wrote on his way to the city revealed what he was thinking about his future in Hangzhou. He wanted to relax for a while and enjoy the peace. Both professional and amateur historians agree that Bais appointment to Hangzhou was a blessing to the great poet and a godsend to the city.

However， Hangzhou wasnt what the governor had imagined it to be. Instead， he ran into an immediate grave challenge on his arrival. There was an ongoing drought that year. The West Lake wasnt what it is today. Part of the lake was a swamp. It wasnt even called the West Lake， though it?was west of the city proper of Hangzhou. In a drought， the shallow water body didnt have enough water to provide any relief to local residents and farmlands around the city. On the other hand， the city was often inundated by floods from the lake and from the Qiantang River on the other side of the city.

Bai Juyi launched a large-scale project to make the lake function better as a reservoir： it should be deep enough to hold water for droughts and contain floodwaters. He had a dam and two sluice gates built on the West Lake. The water-control system was designed to provide the city with an adequate water supply and discharge floods to other rivers. He put into place a regulation on water use： an application must be submitted for farmland irrigation at least one day before the sluice gates could be operated. While the water-control project on the lake outside the city was underway， Bai Juyi launched a drinking-water project inside the city. He had six wells， sunk forty years before by Li Mi， governor of Hangzhou， dredged so that they could provide local residents with clean drinking water.

It was not until the water problems got solved that Bai Juyi began sightseeing in Hangzhou and wrote poems. He served three years in Hangzhou as governor. His legacy is a lake， a causeway， six wells and over 200 poems. Before he left the office， Bai donated the salaries of three years to the citys treasury. Among his luggage were two small stones he had fetched from the West Lake and a crane from Solitary Hill Temple on the lake. He left Hangzhou without much luggage just as he had arrived three years before.

The beauty of Hangzhou haunted the poet in the following years. He wrote about his three years in Hangzhou in two poems. He was modest about his achievement in the city and a little bit worried whether the two stones he carried away from Hangzhou as souvenirs would hurt his reputation as an honest government official. When his friend Yao He was appointed as Hangzhou governor， he wrote a poem to see Yao off. It is by this poem that Bai Juyi called the lake West Lake and put it on the map of Chinese literature. After Yao ended his governorship in Hangzhou and returned， Bai held a home banquet to welcome Yao He back. It was at the party that 66-year-old Bai presented his famous poem . The poem helps make Hangzhou immortal and makes people of Hangzhou proud of Bai.

The geography changed a lot after Bais time. The dam he built was long gone. But the people of Hangzhou didnt forget him. Today， a causeway on the West Lake is called Bai Causeway， which honors Bai Juyi.