斑院駁的子時(shí)光

◇ 文|本刊記者 陳科龍 圖| 劉映呈

在中國(guó)人的居住史上，院子與“家”的聯(lián)結(jié)想來(lái)是最深的。在有關(guān)兒時(shí)的記憶中，如果你曾經(jīng)在院子里住過(guò)，無(wú)疑是幸運(yùn)的。

酉陽(yáng)縣龍?zhí)豆沛?zhèn)，有1700多年歷史，蜀漢以來(lái)一直是“縣丞”“巡檢”“州同”“縣佐”的所在地。我們?cè)谶@里遇到了耐人尋味的院子——吳家大院。庭院深深，曲水流觴，勾起了好些悠長(zhǎng)的往事。

The mention of courtyard house reminds Chinese of “family”. If one lives in a courtyard house when he is a little kid, he will certainly be deemed lucky.

Longtan ancient town, Youyang County, Chongqing, can be traced back to 1,700 years ago. It was home to officers in the kingdom of Shu Han (221-263), one of the Three Kingdoms. In this town, we encountered Wu’s courtyard house, where there is the spacious yard and winding stream, which tell stories of the past.

看見(jiàn)凝固的舊時(shí)光 The Glorious Past

走在古鎮(zhèn)的石板街上，隨處可見(jiàn)老院子。房子都是木結(jié)構(gòu)的，普通人家的戶型是“三柱四騎”或“三柱六騎”，大戶人家住的則是“四合天井”大院。

吳家院子坐落在古鎮(zhèn)的九橋溪畔，是這些老院子中的“大戶”。

窄窄的小溪隔斷了吳家大院和龍?zhí)豆沛?zhèn)錚亮的石板街，一座小石橋橫在大院朝門與石板街之間。小石橋一端側(cè)面，是個(gè)很小很小的花園。沒(méi)有花草，主人吳書(shū)強(qiáng)在花園里忙活著什么。

他喜歡釣魚(yú)，正在挖蚯蚓。吳書(shū)強(qiáng)患過(guò)中風(fēng)，落下了病根。他盯著我們看了一會(huì)兒，估計(jì)是覺(jué)得我們有往大院里走的意思，便放下手里的小鋤頭，帶著我們跨過(guò)小石橋。

聽(tīng)他說(shuō)，吳氏家族始祖吳紹周14歲時(shí)隨家人從江西遷徙入川，輾轉(zhuǎn)來(lái)到酉陽(yáng)龍?zhí)丁墙B周發(fā)奮讀書(shū)，后擢升為大學(xué)士，取得功名后，便在這九橋溪畔建造了吳家院子。

九橋溪，一條有九座小橋的溪水。流勢(shì)忙忙的溪水旁，吳家院子臨水的墻體上騎跨著一座走馬轉(zhuǎn)角樓，優(yōu)雅自然，依稀仿佛能窺見(jiàn)大院往日的榮光。八字形青磚朝門前有五級(jí)臺(tái)階，朝門內(nèi)是一處小天井，有些破敗了。

小天井兩側(cè)的房屋開(kāi)間和進(jìn)深都不算大，如今用作了廚房和雜物室。從小天井進(jìn)入室內(nèi)的過(guò)廳，需要再經(jīng)過(guò)一道石階。過(guò)廳兩側(cè)的廂房是主人家的臥室，有兩層樓，木板墻上的雕花窗欞也都積滿了厚厚的灰塵。

從過(guò)廳內(nèi)再登上九步石板梯，經(jīng)過(guò)這第三級(jí)臺(tái)階后，我們來(lái)到了一處較為寬闊的院壩，院壩原有的房屋被損毀拆除，三面全是高數(shù)丈的磚墻，藤蔓植物爬滿了墻體，墻沿處還殘留了一些老屋的痕跡。

這樣的院子，曾經(jīng)幾代人同堂而居，定是大大的福氣。

Ancient courtyard houses could be found everywhere in the town, all of which were made of wood. Average families lived in small courtyards, while the well-to-do lived in large quadrangles.

Wu’s courtyard house in the Jiuqiao stream bank was one of the quadrangles.

Bright slate-paved streets to Wu’s courtyard house are obstructed by the narrow stream, over which there is a little stone bridge. A tine garden without any flowers of grass lies in the other end of the bridge, and Wu Shuqiang, its owner, was busy doing something in the garden.

He likes fishing, and was digging earthworms. He was seized with apoplexy, which had not completely been cured. Staring at us, noticing our intention to go to the courtyard house, he put down his little hoe, and led us across the bridge.

The man told us, Wu Shaozhou, the earliest ancestor of the Wu’s, went to Sichuan from Jiangxi with his family when he was 14, and finally went to Longtan, Youyang. Working and studying diligently, he was promoted to senior secretary, who assisted the emperor. As a successful officer, he built Wu’s courtyard house here.

As the name implied, Jiuqiao stream had nine bridges. (Jiu “ 九 ” means nine, and qiao “ 橋 ” means bridge.) There was a corner building over the wall which neared the fast-flowing brook. Corner building, similar to stilted building of some Chinese ethnic minorities, is hard to build and requires architect’s skills and insight. The building with great artistic value was graceful and natural, from which the glory of the past could be observed. Inside the house was a little yard, somewhat dilapidated.

Rooms on both sides of the yard are not very large, and are used as kitchen and broom closet at present. We had to go through another stone step to enter the inside entrance hall, on both sides of which were two-storied bedrooms. With window bars which have carved patterns, the wood siding walls were all covered with dust.

Stone step starting from the entrance hall led us to a spacious yard, within which the original houses have been torn down. Climbing plants covered the surrounding high brick walls, in the corner of which some traces of the ancient houses could be found.

Several generations of the family were so blessed to live in such a grand courtyard house.

別有洞天的后院 Diverting and Unique Backyard

吳家院子經(jīng)歷了吳家益、吳先序、吳緒均等幾代人。其中，吳先序的堂哥吳先沖在吳家院子旁建造了一座宅院，也就是吳家后院。

在院子里，一壁高大風(fēng)火山墻聳立的院壩東側(cè)有一道石門，通向后院。后院現(xiàn)在是堂祖母董世云的家，石門早就封上了。

出了老院子，吳書(shū)強(qiáng)帶我們繞到他家的東側(cè)，跨過(guò)九橋溪另一座小橋，穿過(guò)一條狹窄的甬道，就到了后院。后院朝門前，有一個(gè)不太規(guī)整的小院壩，六塊雕花石欄板臨溪而立。石欄上刻著的花鳥(niǎo)，雖經(jīng)歷了時(shí)光的打磨，依舊清晰，看得出當(dāng)初雕刻的精致。

正當(dāng)我們駐足院壩欣賞朝門的大氣時(shí)，似乎聽(tīng)到門外有響動(dòng)，年近八十的董世云出門把我們迎了進(jìn)去。連接朝門與天井的精巧門樓很是顯眼，雖然木樁底部遭風(fēng)雨侵蝕了不少，已有些飄搖。

院內(nèi)的小天井明亮開(kāi)朗，四周是兩層樓的房子，鏤刻著雕花的欄桿，花窗和垂花柱上也雕刻著寶瓶、花卉、蝙蝠等精致細(xì)膩的圖案。

堂屋位于小天井之上，主人家在堂屋搭了三根竹竿，晾著衣服和被套。堂屋后有一扇緊閉的小門，門扣用廢電線纏著，算是鎖。透過(guò)門縫，能夠看到堂屋后別有洞天。

征得董世云的同意，我們打開(kāi)了緊閉的小門，發(fā)現(xiàn)堂屋后還藏著一座小小的后花園。后花園兩側(cè)的廂房早已破敗，踩在室內(nèi)腐朽的木板上，嘎吱作響。透過(guò)手機(jī)的微光，我們發(fā)現(xiàn)木墻上糊的還是上世紀(jì)七八十年代的舊報(bào)紙。

廂房的雕花木門上，人形圖案在特殊年代被削了去，仔細(xì)看依舊看得出一些捕魚(yú)的場(chǎng)景?！按B著船，過(guò)河都不濕腳?！笨粗T上雕刻的漁船，吳書(shū)強(qiáng)想起小時(shí)候的情景。

歷史上，龍?zhí)兜纳倘税旬?dāng)?shù)氐耐⒉?、漆、棓、朱砂等特產(chǎn)裝船，沿湄舒河進(jìn)入酉水河后匯入沅江，通往湖廣、江浙等地。

Several generations including Wu Jiayi, Wu Xianxu and Wu Xujun, were living in this courtyard house. Wu Xianxu’s cousin, Wu Xianchong, built another house beside the courtyard house, namely Wu’s backyard house.

The courtyard is surrounded by high fire walls, and a stone door at the east side of the yard leads to the backyard, which belongs to Dong Shiyun, Wu Shuqiang’s grandaunt.

Out of the ancient yard, Wu took us to the east side of his home. Across another bridge above Jiuqiao stream and through narrow aisle, we reached the backyard where there was a little yard in irregular shape. Close to the stream erected six carved stone fence, on which delicate flowers and birds were still discernible after the ravages of time.

As we stood there to appreciate the grand gate, a sound came from outside, and it turned out to be Dong Shiyun in her late seventies, who welcomed us into her home. Between the gate and the yard, an exquisite gate tower wavered a little for its stake bottom was eroded by wind and rain, but it still stood prominently.

A small yard in the backyard is light and spacious, and around the yard is a two-story house, in which handrails, lattice windows and the flowerflowing pillar are carved with delicate flowers, vases, and bats.

The main room is in front of the small yard where the host hung clothes and quilt cover on bamboo poles. Behind the main room, there is a closed door; the door holder is entwined with waste wires. However, the amazing scene behind can be seen through the crack.

We were permitted to open the door and found there was a hidden back garden, and wing rooms at both sides were decayed. The rotten wooden boards under our feet have creaked . Through the glimmer of the cell phone, we found the wooden walls were covered with newspapers in the 1970s and 1980s.

Figures of people carved on the wooden door of the rooms have been removed due to certain reasons, but as we looked carefully, we could tell it depicts the scene of fishing. Looking at the fishing boats carved on it, Wu Shuqiang recalled the ballads in his childhood, “one ship connects with another, and the water won’t dampen one when he crosses the river.”

A long time ago, businessmen in Longtan loaded specialties such as tung oil, tea, lacquer, gallnut and cinnabar on boards, and shipped these along the Meishu River, then the Youshui River and at last the Yuanjiang River to Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

院子里的家天下 Family in the House

雍正末年廢除土司制度，取消“蠻不出洞、漢不入境”的禁令后，龍?zhí)豆沛?zhèn)上鹽號(hào)、商行、店鋪林立。江西商人在此建了萬(wàn)壽宮作為會(huì)館，湖南商人在此建了禹王宮作為會(huì)館。

吳家祖上就是做桐油、土漆、五倍子等生意的，長(zhǎng)途販運(yùn)至漢口、常德等地，吳書(shū)強(qiáng)小時(shí)候聽(tīng)祖父說(shuō)起過(guò)。

抗戰(zhàn)時(shí)期，龍?zhí)豆沛?zhèn)成為了淪陷區(qū)民眾避戰(zhàn)的大后方，1.5平方公里的小鎮(zhèn)容納了八萬(wàn)人，商賈云集，人煙阜盛，龍?zhí)兑粫r(shí)蜚聲全國(guó)，被譽(yù)為“小南京”。

趙世炎、王勃山、趙君陶、劉仁、王劍虹等仁人志士就是龍?zhí)度耍@里也還留下了賀龍、沈從文、丁玲、田漢等人的足跡。在這樣的地方，住在像吳家院子一樣的家里，屋外是時(shí)代的風(fēng)云變幻，實(shí)在好奇那是怎樣的一種體驗(yàn)。

董世云在吳家后院生活了大半輩子，說(shuō)起吳家院子的過(guò)去，她很是平和。

當(dāng)年她從龔灘嫁到龍?zhí)稌r(shí)，走了兩天的時(shí)間。那時(shí)的吳家，雖開(kāi)始蕭條敗落，但“百足之蟲(chóng)”，依舊算得上殷實(shí)。她聽(tīng)丈夫吳緒均說(shuō)起過(guò)，父輩有6房人，為了外出謀生，父輩賣掉了家里絕大部分土地房產(chǎn)，后院西側(cè)的院子，原本也是吳家院子的一部分，當(dāng)時(shí)賣給了嚴(yán)姓人家?，F(xiàn)在，那里成了嚴(yán)家院子。

最近幾年，她偶爾聽(tīng)人跟她說(shuō)起，吳家“緒”字輩還有人在湖北武漢、四川成都等地。只是，相隔久遠(yuǎn)，再要聯(lián)系實(shí)屬不易。

回看150多列風(fēng)火墻，200多個(gè)四合院，不知有多少家園故土的離愁別緒消散在龍?zhí)豆沛?zhèn)的粉墻黛瓦間。

Yongzheng banished Tusi system during the last years of his reign and lifted a ban on entry and exit of barbarian and Chinese. Since then, Longtan ancient town has been lined with salt stores, firms and shops, and businessmen from Jiangxi and Hunan established Wanshou Palace and Yuwang Palace separately as their guild halls.

Wu’s forefathers sold tung oil, earthen paint and gallnut through long-distance transport to Hankou, Changde, etc.. When he was little, Wu Shuqiang was told the story by his grandfather.

During Anti - Japanese War, Longtan ancient town was the home front of the occupied area and accommodated 80,000 people with its territory of 1.5 square kilometers. With merchants gathering and population abundant, Longtan was praised as “l(fā)ittle Nanjing”.

Longtan fostered a number of people with lofty ideals, including Zhao Shiyan, Wang Boshan, Zhao Juntao, Liu Ren and Wang Jianhong. Here also left traces of He Long, Shen Congwen, Ding Ling, Tian Han, etc.. One would be curious about living in a place like Wu’s courtyard house with changes and turbulence outside.

Dong lives in the backyard house for most of her life. Bringing up the past, she showed placidity.

It took two days to walk from Gongtan to Longtan when she got married. At that time, Wu’s family was on the downward path, but its influence remained. Her husband Wu Xujun said that six brothers of his father and their family lived here, which involved great expense. Therefore, the elder generations sold off a great part of land and houses. The west yard of the backyard house was sold to Yan’s family, which now became Yan’s courtyard house.

In recent years, Dong Shiyun heard occasionally that some of the “Xu” generations were living in Wuhan and Chengdu. However, after a long time separation, it was hard to get in touch with these relatives.

We could not help thinking about how many bitterness and sorrows of the past old days were hiding in the over 150 fire walls and 200 quadrangles in the ancient town.