修文陽明洞

趙永剛

陽明洞位于貴州省修文縣東北的龍崗山上，因明代著名哲學家、教育家、政治家和軍事家王守仁（字陽明，世稱“陽明先生”）被貶至此、在此悟道而名傳后世。

正德三年（1508）春天，因反對宦官劉瑾專權，王陽明被貶。經過數月長途跋涉，他終于抵達貶謫之地——貴州龍場（今修文縣）。當時的龍場驛沒有官臺，王陽明剛來的時候無處容身，于是簡單搭了一間草屋居住。不久之后，他在龍崗半山腰發(fā)現(xiàn)了一處天然石洞。石洞非常寬闊，面積約90平方米，內有天然形成的石凳、石床，旁邊還有生活水源。石洞顯然比草屋更遮風蔽雨，王陽明就移居到洞中，并將此洞更名為“陽明小洞天”。后人為了紀念王陽明，就將此洞稱為“陽明洞”。

王陽明在洞中克服了常人難以忍受的艱苦，戰(zhàn)勝了極端壓抑寂寞的心理危機。更難能可貴的是，在洞中生活的這段時間，王陽明對于儒家哲學有了全新的認識。他認為道德原理根植于道德主體內心，不在外物之上，沖破了“理學”的傳統(tǒng)觀念。王陽明還徹悟到，道德認知與道德實踐是緊密聯(lián)系在一起的，即“知行合一”。王陽明這兩個重要的哲學突破，就是著名的“龍場悟道”，它們改變了中國哲學的發(fā)展方向，其影響力也波及韓國、日本，對世界哲學也有一定的影響。陽明洞也因此成為重要的文化遺產，歷代來此參訪者絡繹不絕。明代貴州土司安國亨在陽明洞口上方鎊刻“陽明先生遺愛處”，以此表達對王陽明的感念之情。明代學者羅汝芳、日本明治時期學者高山公通等先后來此參訪，并留有石刻文字。陽明洞口有兩棵柏樹，相傳為王陽明親手栽種，固王陽明在明代萬歷時期被封為王文成公，后世稱之為“文成柏”。

陽明洞山體左上方是何陋軒。王陽明高尚的人格贏得了龍場百姓的衷心擁護，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)陽明洞過于潮濕，就自發(fā)組織修建何陋軒作為王陽明的居住之所。何陋軒的名字取自《論語·子罕》：“君子居之，何陋之有？”

出陽明洞口左轉，沿山路拾級盤旋而上，就是王文成公祠，祠堂前身是龍崗書院。龍崗書院是龍場百姓為王陽明修建的講學之所，是王陽明傳播心學思想最早的書院，可以說是陽明心學的誕生之所，王陽明最早的系統(tǒng)教育理念也奠基于此。王陽明去世之后，明朝嘉靖三十年（1551），貴州監(jiān)察御史趙錦將其改為“王文成公祠”。祠堂是一座四合院建筑，由祠堂正殿、左右兩廂房與元氣亭組成。正殿供奉王陽明朝服塑像，歷代祭祀王陽明的活動經常在此舉行。值得一提的是，祠內右?guī)吭皇Y介石用來關押愛國將領張學良。張學良與夫人趙一荻在此度過了三年的軟禁生活。軟禁期間，張學良閱讀了很多王陽明的著作，由此對陽明心學以及明代歷史產生了濃厚興趣。

王文成公祠的對面是君子亭。亭子周圍有很多竹子，王陽明認為竹子具有君子的多種品格，故稱此亭為“君子亭”。君子亭下面是賓陽堂，屬于當年龍崗書院建筑群，是書院接待賓客的地方。

近年來，貴州省政府將陽明洞古建筑群擴建成中國陽明文化園。園區(qū)占地3 500余畝，包括“王陽明紀念館”與“陽明廣場”等。矗立在廣場正中的王陽明銅像高15.08米，寓意王陽明來到陽明洞的時間是公元1508年。雖然時間已經過去了500多年，陽明心學的影響卻從未中斷。當地政府每年都舉辦“陽明學術文化活動”，越來越多的世界友人來此參訪游學，陽明洞也成為中國陽明心學的文化地標。

The Yangming Cave in Xiuwen County

Located in the Longgang Mountain in XiuwenCounty， Guizhou Province， the Yangming Cave isnamed a er the renowned Ming-dynasty philosopher，educator， statesman and military leader Wang Shouren（art name Yangming， also known as Master Yangming）.Having gained his epiphany in this cave a er being demoted，Wang Yangming has given the cave perpetualfame.

In the spring of the third year of Zhengde （1508），Wang was demoted for opposing the hegemony of theeunuch Liu Jin in court. After months of wearying travel，Wang finally arrivedat the place he was demotedto， Longchang（now Xiuwen County）in Guizhou Province，which didn’t even havean official residence atthe time. So Wang hadto build a makeshiftthatched cottage as atemporary dwelling.Soon， he found a naturalcave halfway up theLonggang Mountainwith a spacious area ofabout 90 square meters.With naturally formedstone stools and stonebeds inside the caveand drinking water resources nearby， the cave proveda far better shelter than the cottage. Wang moved intothe cave and named it “Yangming Xiaodongtian” （theMiniature Cave-Heaven of Yangming）. Later generationscalled the cave “Yangming Cave” to commemorateWang.

Wang endured an exceptionally dreary life in thecave， and it was here that he overcame his mental crisiscaused by extreme suppression and isolation. Moreover，it was here that Wang reconceptualized Confucianphilosophy， claiming that moral principles originatefrom the mind of the subject instead of from externalobjects. This was a rebel against the traditional Schoolof Principle in Neo-Confucianism. Wang also cameto the conclusion that one’s moral knowledge is insep-arable from one’s moral actions， hence the maxim “the unity of knowledgeand action”. These two philosophical breakthroughs constitute thefamous “epiphany of Longchang”， which has changed the direction ofChinese traditional philosophy and in uenced Japan and Korea， eventuallyleaving its mark in world philosophy. The Yangming Cave has sincebecome an important cultural site， attracting visitors across history andcultures. An Guoheng， the Ming-dynasty Aboriginal Chief of Guizhouhad it inscribed above the entrance of the cave “Witness to the enduringgrace of Master Yangming” to pay homage to the philosopher. LuoRufang， a scholar of the Ming Dynasty， and Kimimichi Takayama， ascholar of the Meiji Period in Japan， visited this cave and le stone inscriptions.There are two cypress trees at the entrance of the cave whichare said to have been planted by Wang himself. As Wang was canonizedwith the posthumous name Duke Wang of Wencheng in the Wanli periodof the Ming Dynasty， the trees are also called “Duke Wencheng’sCypress”.

To the upper le side of the cave is the Helou Pavilion. Wang’s noble character had won heartfelt support of the Longchang people， so they?volunteered to build a dwelling place for him after discoveringthat the Yangming Cave was too damp for living.This became the Helou Pavilion. The name “Helou”comes from the chapter “Zihan” in The Analects： “Wherethe gentleman abides， what shabbiness there is？”

If you come out of the cave and?urn le ， ascend the winding steps along themountain path and you will nd the Temple of Duke Wang of Wencheng， whoseformer incarnation was the Longgang Academy. Longgang Academy was builtby local people for Wang as a venue for teaching. As the first academy whereWang promoted his School of Mind， Longgang Academy was the birthplace ofthe school and the founding place of Wang’s systematic educational theories.After wang?passed away， Zhao Jin， the Investigating Censor of Guizhou turnedthe academy into the temple of Duke Wang of Wangcheng in the thirtieth yearof Jiajing （1551）. The temple was a Siheyuan-style courtyard house consisting ofthe main hall in the center， le and right chambers anking it and the Yuanqi Pavilion.The main hall enshrines a statue of Wang in his court dress， and worshipservices to Wang have o en been held here over the ages. It’s worth mentioningthat the western chambers of the temple had once been used by Chiang Kai-shekto put the patriotic general Zhang Xueliang under house arrest. During the threeyears that General Zhang and his wife Zhao Yidi had been con ned in this residence，Zhang read many of Wang’s writings and developed his interest in Wang’s?School of Mind and the history of the Ming Dynasty.

Facing the temple is the Junzi Pavilion surrounded bybamboos. Wang believes that bamboos partake of many ofthe noble qualities of the junzi， or the gentleman， consideredto be the embodiment of Confucian ideal， so the pavilion isnamed after Junzi. Below the pavilion is the Binyang GuestHall， which was part of the building complex of the formerLonggang Academy and was used by the academy as a guestreception venue.

In recent years， the Guizhou provincial government hasexpanded the Yangming Cave historic building complex intothe Yangming Cultural Park which covers an area of over3，500 mu （approximately 2，333 square meters）. The parkincludes the Wang Yangming Memorial and the YangmingSquare. The bronze statue of Wang standing at the centerof the square reaches a height of 15.08 meters， symbolizingthe year 1508 when Wang rst came to the Yangming Cave.Although five hundred years have passed， the YangmingSchool of Mind continues to influence today’s world. Eachyear， the local government hold academic and cultural eventsfocusing on the Yangming School and more and more visitorsfrom across the world are coming here to learn somethingabout Wang， making the Yangming Cave a cultural landmarkfor the Yangming School of Mind in China.