羅羅
從貴陽去修文幾十里地,一路望山,可以懷想悠悠往事。
從前,修文一帶是五方雜處的窮鄉(xiāng)僻壤。明代初,彝族之女奢香夫人繼丈夫之業(yè)攝理貴州宣慰使一職,期間鑿空龍場九驛,從此馬幫鈴聲回響山谷間。正德初,兵部主事王陽明因抗章遭貶,萬里投荒,于三年(1508)到九驛第一站龍場驛任驛丞。他在這里傳播文化,冥思舊學(xué),萌生新說,從而樹立起中國思想哲學(xué)發(fā)展道路上的歷史性里程碑。
龍場驛歸兵部管轄,不過其時彝人安氏土司正想廢去,僅配“丞一名,吏一名,馬二十三匹”(民國《貴州通志·建置》),破敗得連住宿都沒有。王陽明自言“初至龍場,無所止,結(jié)草庵居之”,因作五古一首:“草庵不及肩,旅倦體方適。開棘自成籬,土階漫無級。迎風(fēng)亦蕭疏,漏雨易補緝。靈瀨響朝湍,深林凝暮色……污樽映瓦豆,盡醉不知夕。緬懷黃唐化,略稱茅茨跡?!斌A站邊的臨時草庵簡陋窮酸,但他似乎不介意,瀏覽景物,杯酒釋懷,尚存高古心地。
龍場驛以及草庵地處今天的修文縣城南隅,如今已不在——其實在與不在無所謂,王陽明“龍場悟道”的遺痕在城東棲霞山上?,F(xiàn)在,棲霞山前建了一座文化園,望過去,豎著白石牌坊和青鋼雕像。園內(nèi)一部分為廣場,一部分為紀(jì)念館,我進館買得一本王陽明詩文的選本。當(dāng)然,山上是游覽重點,已經(jīng)整治。
入山門行走漸深,雜樹為主,偶爾一二黃葉飄落,生發(fā)出絲絲荒崗野村稀落蕭索的氣息,有那種還原歷史人文的真味道。上一段筆直的石磴道,山腰就是陽明洞??斓蕉辞埃袃芍陚鳛橥蹶柮魇种驳睦仙n柏樹,接天而去已500有余年。
王陽明在龍場做學(xué)問,以陽明洞為代表。估計驛站公事不多,便想清靜而可以思想,他很快離棄草庵,跑到這山上的東洞里面又搭了一間草窩,玩起大道之源、五經(jīng)之首的《周易》?!瓣柮髯又右囊?,穴山麓之窩而讀《易》其間……名其窩曰‘玩易?!保ā锻嬉赘C記》)他自述自己仰頭埋頭地思索,這個洞特別窄小,外面卻遼闊浩渺。在這里讀《易》,可以悠然地學(xué)習(xí)和休息,自然而然就有一種新的感覺,這是整理的結(jié)果。古人說《易》是天、地、人都具備的一本好書,學(xué)習(xí)它,是研究人的精神和智慧。孔子讀《易》,韋編三絕,用這種精神將使研究更加深入透徹。
東洞欠些寬敞,倒還明亮,搭間草窩讀書別有情趣,冥想時能面壁石鐘乳。據(jù)說,由《易》而《詩》《書》《禮》《春秋》,王陽明在這里注解集成了他的第一部哲學(xué)專著《五經(jīng)臆說》。他認(rèn)為,對五經(jīng)原旨的解讀,不必拘泥于古人,由此大徹大悟了“心即理”,為之后構(gòu)建“致良知”思想、“知行合一”學(xué)說的理論框架、集心學(xué)之大成做下基本準(zhǔn)備。
東洞后稱“陽明小洞天”,有許多頌揚的石刻,我看了一些也忘了一些,只記得別人說,洞口藤蘿倒垂處有奢香夫人的后人、貴州宣慰使安國亨的摩崖“陽明先生遺愛處”最出名,旁邊的“陽明別洞”及“奇境”次之。也許說得對,摩崖的作用往往在于讓有意義的東西不朽而千古。
離陽明洞不遠的何陋軒,是王陽明正式的居所。他曾作《何陋軒記》,寫道:東峰石穴,又陰以濕,“龍場之民……相與伐木閣之材,就其地為軒以居予”。這居所僅三開間,卻不簡單,王陽明在這里生活得非常富足:他種竹蒔花,彈琴編書,當(dāng)?shù)貙W(xué)士漸漸來游,安氏土司有酒肉相濟,“因名之曰‘何陋,以信孔子之言”。孔子曰:“君子居之,何陋之有?”王陽明說,偏僻鄉(xiāng)民如未琢之璞、未繩之木,雖粗礪頑梗,也可以椎斧,為什么輕視他們呢?孔子不也一樣看待自己“欲居九夷”嗎?這里的風(fēng)俗崇巫而事鬼、瀆禮而任情,是無人講典章文物之故。只要有君子居住,開化他們也容易。王陽明于是有講學(xué)之舉,而講學(xué)是最好的做學(xué)問,歷來如此。
王陽明愿學(xué)夫子“為君子儒,無為小人儒”,在何陋軒前“駕楹為亭,環(huán)植以竹,而名之曰‘君子”,著文《君子亭記》說明“竹有君子之道四焉”:中虛而靜,通而有間,為“德”;外節(jié)而直,柯葉無改,為“操”;應(yīng)蟄而出,遇伏而隱,為“時”;揖遜俯仰,若洙泗群賢之交集,挺然特立,若虞廷群后之側(cè)列,為“容”。貴州最多竹子,他透過竹子看萬山風(fēng)景,確實看出了必須反動于朱子理學(xué)的道道來。
王陽明講學(xué)的地方在棲霞山頂,卻叫“龍岡書院”。那本詩文選本里沒有王陽明作的“記”,不清楚他如何辦起書院、召集學(xué)生講學(xué)。他曾經(jīng)給他的學(xué)生寫過一封信,提到了親傳的第一批弟子17人的名字。學(xué)說傳播在很大程度上是通過書院起作用。從貴州龍岡書院(文明書院)到江西濂溪書院再到浙江稽山書院,構(gòu)成了王陽明學(xué)說的傳播路線,后世國內(nèi)各學(xué)派和日本的陽明學(xué)、朝鮮的實學(xué)以及東南亞和歐美的王學(xué),都以龍岡為淵藪。他的教育思想,也發(fā)端于龍場,《龍場諸生問答》和《教條示龍場諸生》便在這里奠基。
還在明之嘉靖中,龍岡書院已成舊址,其上重建了紀(jì)念專祠,清乾隆、嘉慶、道光、光緒及民國時期歷有修治,前人敬仰推崇如此。現(xiàn)在祠的總體建筑結(jié)構(gòu)一仍如舊,正殿為享堂,20世紀(jì)90年代有日本人捐了王陽明銅像,并恢復(fù)原有匾額及楹聯(lián)。東廂是張學(xué)良囚禁處,他曾被迫在這里讀陽明學(xué)說。西廂兩次間有王陽明《龍岡漫興》《西園》《龍場草庵》《陽明小洞天》詩碑6通。元氣亭掛“培養(yǎng)元氣”匾,原是舉行祭祀時的樂舞場所。
漫步龍岡書院外,當(dāng)年迎賓待客的賓陽堂有復(fù)構(gòu)?!稌虻洹吩弧耙e出日”,孔穎達疏作“恭敬導(dǎo)引將出之日”,王陽明取名何謙謙。賓陽堂附近尚有大佛殿。以前的官員認(rèn)為祠堂之側(cè)不宜寺院,命令遷走,留下二三佛子照看王文成公祠。嗟乎禮義,僭越不得。
據(jù)說,王陽明振鐸貴陽文明書院時,其“知行合一”的學(xué)說仿佛隱隱山風(fēng),那么,至少“致良知”的思想在龍岡書院已經(jīng)蕭蕭有聲。小時候習(xí)《古文觀止》,記得收了王陽明的《瘞旅文》《象祠記》,前篇寫傷人客死、悲情真摯,后篇寫君子修德、感化深切,至今尚能背誦。這一文一記都是他在龍場時期闡發(fā)“致良知”思想的形象化的論文。這次看了選本中《與安宣慰書》三篇,尤其其二,感到也接觸他的觀點,又讀《遠俗亭記》《臥馬家記》和一些秀逸有致的詩作,一樣有意思。
人說,研究孔孟必到山東,研究二程必到河南,研究朱熹必到江西,研究王陽明不能不到貴州、不能不到修文、不能不到陽明洞。從貴州回來沒幾天,報載浙江柯橋的稽山書院復(fù)建開院,什么時候也應(yīng)該去走一走,包括余姚的陽明故居、蘭亭的陽明墓,與修文行合并作一次讀書之旅。
(本文照片由梁鳳英提供)
It is about 20 kilometers from Guiyang to Xiuwen. I went there to visit Longchang where Wang Yangming (1472-1529) stayed for more than three years. In 1508 he was exiled to the remote Longchang in the southwestern China from the dynastys capital. Xiuwen had used to be a sparsely populated region. Then nine outposts were developed and trade routes extended. Longchang was the first of the nine in the wilderness. The outpost in Longchang was nothing to write home about. As the governor, Wang had only one employee working under him and twenty-three horses. Upon arrival, he found he had nowhere to stay. He built a thatched hut and made it his home.
“Contemplating Truth in Longchang” is a key chapter in the history of Chinese philosophy and culture and makes Longchang famous. Longchang and the hut where Wang stayed are long gone, but there is a cave in Qixia Hill to the east of the countys capital where Wang Yangming did his contemplation. This is the destination for pilgrims like me. There is a park in front of the hill. Inside the park stand a white stone memorial archway and a bronze statue. The park is composed of a public square and a memorial museum. I bought a selection of poems and essays of Wang Yangming at the museum.
Through the archway I went to the hill. The forest was dense. After a long flight of steps I came to Yangming Cave and saw two towering cypress trees nearby. Presumably they were planted by the philosopher himself. If the story is true, then the two trees are more than 500 years old.
The cave was where Wang worked out his system of philosophy. As he did not have a tight official work schedule in such a remote place, he deserted the hut and came here. He studied classics here and wrote a thick heap of notes. On the basis of the notes, he wrote a book on his philosophy. Longchang was where his unprecedented ideas were first conceived, though not yet fully fledged.
He had a house built not far from the cave. He wrote a short essay about the three-room house and a relatively good life he enjoyed there. He planted flowers and bamboo there; he edited his essays and notes and played the Qin. Scholars came to visit him from far and the local chief provided wine and meat. As a scholar, he decided to teach local people about Confucianism.
He set up a school at the top of Qixia Hill and named it Longgang Academy. The book I had bought at the museum does not explain the details of the school: when it started and how students came to him. In a letter he wrote to a student, he mentioned that he recruited 17 locals when the school started. His ideas spread through the lectures he gave. In his lifetime he ran three academies: Longgang Academy in Guizhou, Lianxi Academy in Jiangxi and Jishan Academy in Zhejiang. The three schools constituted a road map showing how he disseminated his ideology. The studies of his philosophy in Korea, Southeast Asia, Europe and America are all based on the ideas he conceived at Longgang. His thought about education can be seen clearly in the teachings he wrote at Longgang.
The academy at Longgang was long gong even in the Ming Dynasty and a memorial temple was set up on the site there to commemorate Wang Yangming. The temple was refurbished several times during the Qing Dynasty. The current structure retains the historical layout. In the 1990s, a bronze statue donated by Japan was set up there and plaques and couplets were restored. His poems written in Longgang can be seen on six stone steles in the west wing.
When I was a kid, I read two essays of Wang in a textbook compiled in the Qing Dynasty. I was deeply impressed. I can still recite the texts. The first text describes the death of someone far from home. The second essay relates the cultivation of virtues a man should do. The essays reflect the unity of knowledge and action, a theory that he conceived at Longchang.
I walked out of the academy and came to the guesthouse where the visitors to the academy once stayed. Nearby is a Buddhist temple. After the temple was constructed, local government thought its location inappropriate because it was offensive to the solemnity of the memorial temple of Wang Yangming. So monks were ordered to leave and only two or three were instructed to stay to take care of the memorial temple.
Leaving Longgang, I thought about the sites of Wang Yangming in Zhejiang. Now I am thinking of a journey to visit Jishan Academy in Keqiao, Shaoxing, the former residence of Wang Yangming in Yuyao, and his tomb in Orchid Pavilion in Shaoxing. My visit to Xiuwen County would be additionally meaningful if I can visit the philosophers home and academy and tomb in Zhejiang.