錢塘明珠銅鑒湖

文/袁長渭

杭州古稱錢塘，銅鑒湖曾經(jīng)是錢塘泗鄉(xiāng)歷史上最大的湖泊，原來的湖面有好幾平方公里。銅鑒湖的別名叫明圣湖、金牛湖和石湖，古籍中有眾多記載。酈道元在《水經(jīng)注》記載：“明圣湖在縣南江側(cè)?！薄睹駠贾莞尽分姓f：“石湖，在定山南鄉(xiāng)，石龍山下。漢時名明圣湖，宋時更名石湖，今名銅鑒湖?！薄豆饩w杭縣縣志》記載：“銅鑒湖在曇山東南。湖周圍約三四里許，水清澈，產(chǎn)魚極肥。菱芡之利，不可勝計，秋莼尤佳，埒于湘湖。湖藏山腹，境極為邃……”張道的《定鄉(xiāng)小識》專門考證：“《唐宋錢塘志》記載，明圣湖距縣五十里許，瀕江……”,并就此推論，在錢塘縣，這樣的湖只有銅鑒湖了?！抖ㄠl(xiāng)小識》還專門描述了銅鑒湖的美麗風(fēng)景：“湖藏山腹，境絕幽邃，煙鷗雪鷺，伊軋唼呷。茶歌樵唱，激響晴波，紅樹青林，一川如畫?！?/p>

銅鑒湖邊有一個定南公館，那是古代杭富路上的一個驛站，定南公館邊的解頭山也叫公館山，山邊的村叫公館村?！度f歷錢塘縣志》記載：“石龍之東南為解頭山，高三十丈，有解頭寺，旁有定南公館?！睆埖馈抖ㄠl(xiāng)小識》亦有云：“公館村，至宋時尤為士大夫往來憩息之所?？滴鯐r尚設(shè)門役。今廨宇久廢，唯其地沿稱公館也?！碧拼娙酥芸镂镖s考路過銅鑒湖畔定南公館小憩，寫下了著名的《應(yīng)舉題錢塘公館》：“萬里茫茫天塹遙，秦王底事不安橋？錢塘江上無錢渡，又阻西興兩信潮。”

清代宰相父子董邦達和董誥系富陽新桐人，董邦達曾經(jīng)在湖埠教過書，并且把董家的祖上安葬在姚家塢，據(jù)說是姚家塢楊梅垅的好風(fēng)水庇佑了董氏家族，這就是湖埠十景之一“董墳松濤”的來由。

銅鑒湖畔有一座曇山，曇山上有一個清虛洞，理學(xué)祖師爺朱熹在人生的高光和低落時刻，曾兩次率眾弟子來此講學(xué)，并且留下了在杭州僅有的朱熹石刻：“頹然見茲山，一一見天作。信手銘巖墻，所愿君勿鑿?！鼻宕娜撕础抖ㄠl(xiāng)雜著》有記：“仲晦（朱熹）銘傳石上刻，數(shù)行蝕盡蘚斕斑。青山一一天然在，只欠園亭似次山?！?/p>

銅鑒湖畔向日葵花田。Sun flower fields by the Tongjian Lake.

曇山上清虛洞里有一個棋盤石，錢塘泗鄉(xiāng)還有相關(guān)的樵夫砍柴看仙人下棋忘歸的民間故事。所以，清虛洞也叫仙人洞，曇山也叫棋盤山。

曇山的西北面是湖埠村。明朝時期，湖埠村有個讀書人馮來聘，明萬歷二十八年舉人，天啟二年進士，官至山東道御史。其時，泗鄉(xiāng)教育頗為發(fā)達，明末另有午山葛寅亮、雙流陳之煌、浮山鄭尚友也高中進士，光耀泗鄉(xiāng)，史稱“泗鄉(xiāng)四才子”。區(qū)區(qū)泗鄉(xiāng)，才子輩出，值得后人深思。

有不少家喻戶曉的古代文人在這片人杰地靈的土地上留下千古名篇。

如楊萬里曾游楊村鹽場，宿于銅鑒湖之畔，見帆收煙升，波碎燈影，作《晨炊泊楊村》：“沙步未多遠，里名還異原。對江穿野店，各路入深村。秋水乘新汲，春芽煮不渾。舟中爭上岸，竹里有清樽?！痹娎飳懙降纳巢骄褪呛海簿褪清X塘江邊楊村的江灘；春芽煮不渾的春芽，指的就是銅鑒湖畔的茶葉。

杭州知州范仲淹著《風(fēng)水洞》：“神仙一去幾千年，自遣秦人不得還。春盡桃花無覓處，空余流水到人間?！?/p>

在古代，銅鑒湖畔的道路是杭州城通往富陽的唯一官道，當年的白居易、蘇東坡主政杭州時，常走此道去富陽，或者去云泉山風(fēng)水洞、銅鑒湖和曇山會友賞景。

蘇東坡游風(fēng)水洞時，曾經(jīng)下榻銅鑒湖畔定南公館，寫下了“追君直過定山村”“風(fēng)巖水穴舊聞名，只隔山溪夜不行”“溪橋曉溜浮梅萼，知君系馬巖花落”等詩句?！笆郎闲嚎浼沧撸缇啻癜灿小?，詩中這兩句也成了后來蘇東坡“烏臺詩案”的重要罪證之一。

蘇東坡經(jīng)常來游覽湖埠美景，宿于泗鄉(xiāng)農(nóng)家，對泗鄉(xiāng)風(fēng)土人情頗為了解，曾作《風(fēng)水洞二禽》：“春山最好不歸去，慚愧春禽解勸儂?！?/p>

白居易也曾逍遙于銅鑒湖風(fēng)水洞邊恩德寺，與高僧慧日禪師交好而不思歸，寫下：“云水埋藏恩德洞，簪裙束縛使君身。暫來不宿歸州去，應(yīng)被山呼作俗人?！卑拙右滓乒俦眹?，尚思湖埠之竹筍與銅鑒湖之莼鱸，“久為京洛客，此味常不足”“猶有鱸魚莼菜興，來春或擬往江東”，以志念想，堪比蘇州張翰的“莼鱸之思”。

曇山腳下銅鑒湖有大片的西湖莼菜田，那是正宗的西湖莼菜產(chǎn)區(qū)，“銅鑒湖牌”莼菜曾經(jīng)熱銷日本和韓國。西湖莼菜有著悠久歷史，蘇東坡和白居易都有詩紀念。蘇東坡念念不忘西湖莼菜，于是寫下：“若問三吳勝事，不唯千里莼羹。”白居易的“江南憶，最憶是杭州”，憶的不乏銅鑒湖莼菜。相傳乾隆皇帝下江南，每到杭州都必以莼菜調(diào)羹進餐，并派人定期運回宮廷食用。

銅鑒湖之名的來由傳說與魏徵有關(guān)。The origins of the name “Tongjian” Lake are said to be related with Wei Zheng.

銅鑒湖畔還盛產(chǎn)九曲紅梅茶，因其色紅香清如紅梅，滋味甜醇，早在1886年就獲得巴拿馬世界博覽會金獎，名氣不遜于西湖龍井茶。

銅鑒湖之名的來歷還可從唐太宗李世民和魏徵的關(guān)系說起。玄武門之變后，李世民當上了皇帝，也就成了唐太宗，開啟了貞觀之治。唐太宗是一個開明的皇帝，對特別有才的人不計前嫌，連原先太子李建成的幕僚魏徵都加以重用，就是一個明例。

在唐朝，魏徵的名聲可謂很響亮，是一個敢于向皇帝直言進諫的人，無人能出其右，李世民視若珍寶。魏徵進諫的故事不計其數(shù)，甚至很多次搞得唐太宗李世民很沒面子，但卻能屢被重用，不僅說明魏徵遇上了明主李世民，更體現(xiàn)了李世民不一般的氣量。

魏徵不給李世民面子，在史書上有記載，《西游記》里也有涉及，與銅鑒湖的傳說有很大關(guān)聯(lián)。相傳袁守誠是一個半仙，長年在長安街頭擺攤，能卜算上下五百年，人們都把他當作活神仙。一個打魚人每天來請教長安城外涇河里打魚時間和地點，袁守誠的卦都很準，打魚人每天都能滿載而歸。時間一長，涇河老龍感到水族的生存受到了極大威脅，于是化作一個書生前來為難袁守誠。

涇河老龍給袁守誠出了一個題目，要求預(yù)測第二天的天氣。袁守誠的卦象說是明日午時三刻，雨水“城內(nèi)三寸、城外三尺”。涇河老龍急忙趕到天上，一查，確實如袁守誠所說無疑。為了為難袁守誠，涇河老龍私下做通了小兄弟雨神的工作，把下雨計劃改成了“城外三寸，城內(nèi)三尺”。一時，長安城內(nèi)遭到了前所未有的水災(zāi)，許多老百姓的房屋被淹沒，連城隍菩薩都被大水沖走了，城隍菩薩到玉皇大帝那里去喊冤告狀。玉皇大帝一查，原來是雨神與涇河老龍合謀改了下雨計劃，讓長安百姓受難。玉皇大帝震怒，決定斬殺涇河老龍，監(jiān)斬官就是鐵面無私的魏徵。

銅鑒湖秋景。The Tongjian Lake in autumn.

傳說涇河老龍與唐太宗李世民關(guān)系不錯，就托唐太宗說情，唐太宗答應(yīng)了。唐太宗心想，只要拖過了午時三刻的執(zhí)刑時間，就能免掉涇河老龍的死罪。于是，唐太宗就擺下酒席宴請魏徵吃午飯，到了午時三刻，魏徵由于喝多了酒，醉倒在酒席上?？粗谱硭奈横缇驮谧约旱难燮ぷ拥紫拢膬阂踩ゲ涣?，這下唐太宗懸著的心也放了下來。但是，意想不到的事情還是發(fā)生了，魏徵不買唐太宗的賬，而是在夢中監(jiān)斬了涇河老龍。

被斬的涇河老龍受到極大委屈，經(jīng)常出現(xiàn)在唐太宗的夢中，唐太宗感到有愧于涇河老龍，于是就有了唐僧西天取經(jīng)超度涇河老龍的故事。

傳聞又說涇河老龍被斬殺后，化作一片沙土，就是現(xiàn)在的錢塘沙，也就是錢塘泗鄉(xiāng)。這就是錢塘泗鄉(xiāng)老百姓口口相傳的“斬掉涇河老龍，漲起錢塘沙”這一故事的來歷。

由于錢塘江邊漲出大片沙丘，云泉山和公館山連在了一起，山腳下形成了一個平靜如鏡的湖泊。史書記載，此湖有金牛出沒，故叫金牛湖，也叫明圣湖。因為地處石龍山下，還有別名石湖。

唐太宗勵精政道，虛心納諫，對魏徵倍加敬重。魏徵也進諫如故，君臣合璧，相得益彰，終于開創(chuàng)了大唐“貞觀之治”的輝煌盛世。

魏徵去世后，唐太宗感到非常悲痛，感嘆說 ：“以銅為鑒，可正衣冠；以史為鑒，可知興替；以人為鑒，可知得失。今魏徵已死，吾亡一鑒矣?！?/p>

由于涇河老龍、唐太宗李世民、魏徵都與錢塘沙直接相關(guān)聯(lián)，后來，錢塘人就取了唐太宗“以銅為鑒”作為湖名，把金牛湖叫做了銅鑒湖以教育后人。人們逐漸把金牛湖、明圣湖和石湖的名字淡忘了，而銅鑒湖的名聲卻越叫越響亮。

站在銅鑒湖邊遠望石龍山，銅鑒湖如一個聚寶盆，很像一把太師椅，左手靠著虎頭山（公館山），右手靠著花山，“太師椅”背靠的就是石龍山，果然風(fēng)水寶地。明如銅鏡，清澈如鑒。在風(fēng)和日麗的早晨，或在落日余暉中，銅鑒湖的確像一面銅鏡。春天的翠綠，夏天的荷花，秋天的層林盡染，冬天的銀裝倒映，銅鑒湖的春夏秋冬都別有韻味。

銅鑒湖有近三千畝水面，花山、公館山、曇山是半島，桃花島是湖中小島，還有眾多的湖中田島、花島、果園島，坐一只小船，住在銅鑒湖邊的民宿里，賞碧波蕩漾，登曇山，觀銅鑒湖日出，賞茱萸晚霞，聽遠處慈嚴寺傳來的鐘聲，閑時摘摘莼菜、采采菱，聽聽朱熹講學(xué)的故事，喝喝九曲紅梅茶，生活是何等的愜意啊。

Tongjian Lake, a Pearl of Qiantang

By Yuan Changwei

Hangzhou was called Qiantang in ancient times, and in the history of its Sixiang area, Tongjian Lake (Tongjian literally means the bronze mirror), covering several square kilometers, was the largest.

By the lakeside is situated Dingnan House, which served as a post house for travelers in ancient times. The mountain next to it is thus called the Post House Mountain, and the village nearby the Post House village.contains its relevant records.mentions, “The Post House village remained a haunt for the literati as late as the Song dynasty [960-1279]…”. Zhou Kuangwu, a poet of the Tang dynasty (618-907), wrote a famous poem for the building, where he stopped on his journey to take the imperial examination.

Born in Xintong, Fuyang, both Dong Bangda (1696-1769)and his son Dong Gao (1740-1818) served as prime ministers during the Qing dynasty (1616-1911). Dong Bangda once taught in Hubu and buried his ancestors in Yaojiawu, a good location said to have blessed the whole family, and that is the origin of “Dong’s Tombs Amid Pine Trees”, one of the ten scenes of Hubu.

銅鑒湖春景之一——油菜花田。Rapeseed flowers bloom in spring around the Tongjian Lake.

銅鑒湖暮色。The Tongjian Lake at dusk.

There is a cave called Qingxu on Tanshan Mountain near the lake, where Zhu Xi (1130-1200), the founder of Neo-Confucianism, gave lectures twice, and he left behind an inscription, his only one in Hangzhou. Hu Jing, a man of letters in the Qing dynasty, mentioned Zhu’s inscription in.

There’s a chessboard stone in Qingxu Cave. Legend has it that a local woodcutter became so entranced with watching immortals playing chess that he forgot to return home. The cave is thus also called the Immortal Cave, and Tanshan Mountain the Chessboard Mountain.

To the northwest of Tanshan Mountain is Hubu village. In the early 17th century, a villager named Feng Laipin passed the imperial examinations at the provincial level and then succeeded at the highest level, and climbed up the officialdom ladder all the way to the Imperial Censor of Shandong. Apart from Feng, Sixiang also produced Ge Yinliang, Chen Zhihuang and Zheng Shangyou,three successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations,and they were collectively known as the “Four Talents of Sixiang”,a proof of the advanced education in the area back at that time.

Many household names left famous works in this fair land.For example, Yang Wanli (1127-1206) once put up somewhere on the shore during a trip to a salt plant in Yangcun village. He wrote a poem “Morning Cooking in the Yangcun Village”, seeing the sail pulled down and wisps of smoke rising from chimneys. In it he mentioned Hubu and the tea native to the lake. Fan Zhongyan(989-1052), who was once prefect of Hangzhou, wrote the poem“Fengshui Cave”, “It’s been thousands of years since the departure of immortals, and ifind comfort in the thought that Qin people are unable to return. Peach blossoms are nowhere to be found when spring comes to an end, and all that is left is running water in the mortal world.”

In ancient times, the road by Tongjian Lake was the only official route connecting Hangzhou and Fuyang. When in charge of Hangzhou, Bai Juyi (772-846) and Su Dongpo (1037-1101)often took this road to Fuyang, or to Fengshui Cave, Tongjian Lake or Tanshan Mountain, where they would meet friends and enjoy the beautiful scenery. Su once stayed at Dingnan House during his tour of the cave and mentioned this place in one of his poems, and two lines from it — “People in the world rush for fame and wealth; where else can ifind anyone who treats me like you”— were later used to frame him. He would stay at farmhouses in Sixiang during his frequent trips to Hubu and was no stranger to local customs, as evidenced in his “Two Birds in Fengshui Cave”.

As for Bai, during his carefree excursion to Ende Temple near the cave, he was on intimate terms with Huiri, an eminent monk there, and never thought about returning home. After being transferred to northern China, he missed the bamboo shoots in Hubu and the water shield and bass in the lake so much that he even wrote poems for them. There’s a large body of water in the lake for growing the authentic West Lake water shield. “Tongjian Lake Brand” water shield once sold well in Japan and South Korea.The long-standing West Lake water shield features some of the poems written by Su and Bai. It’s said that Emperor Qianlong(1711-1799) would have a thick soup made of water shield every time he stopped in Hangzhou during his inspection trip to the south of the Yangtze River, and would have the vegetable sent to the palace regularly.

Tongjian Lake got its name from the relationship between Li Shimin (598-649), or Emperor Taizong of the Tang dynasty(618-907), and Wei Zheng (580-643) his prime minister. After the Incident at Xuanwu Gate, Li came into power and started his reign. He was open-minded and would put aside the past unpleasantness between him and the particularly talented. A case in point is that he even put Wei Zheng, once an aide to the former crown prince, in an important position. Wei was known for being outspoken and never flinching from admonishing the emperor,and was thus treasured by Li.

銅鑒湖雪景。The Tongjian Lake on a snowy day.

There are countless stories about how Wei remonstrated with the emperor. He even embarrassed the emperor many times,but was still valued, which reflects Li’s open-mindedness and extraordinary magnanimity. That Wei refused to make Li look good is recorded in historical books and also mentioned in, which is closely related to the legend of Tongjian Lake. It’s said that Yuan Tian’gang (573-645), a semi-immortal who had a shopfront on the street of Chang’an (present-day Xi’an city, Shaanxi province), was regarded as a living immortal for being able to see the events of the past and future. His predictions were so accurate that a fisherman who consulted him returned with a full load of fish every day. Things continued like this for a while until the dragon king realized that the aquatic life was at risk of being wiped out. Therefore, he morphed into a scholar and came to roust Yuan.

The dragon king asked Yuan to predict the next day’s weather.Yuan replied that there would be “three inches of rain inside the city and three feet outside” at three quarters past the noon.After checking, the dragon king found out that everything was exactly the same as foretold by Yuan. He talked the Rain God into changing the amount of rain. An unprecedented flood thus swept across the whole city, inundating many residential houses and even washing away the Town God, who complained to the Jade Emperor. The Jade Emperor later found out about the scheme and was so angry that he decided to behead the dragon king, and the officer supervising the execution was Wei Zheng, who was known for being just and stern. The dragon king then begged Emperor Taizong, with whom he was on pretty good terms, to intercede for him. The emperor agreed, believing that the dragon king would be pardoned once the execution was stalled on. So the emperor invited Wei for lunch. By the time for execution, Wei had passed out drunk. Seeing Wei was unable to go anywhere, the emperor was relieved. However, something unexpected happened; Wei supervised over the beheading of the dragon king in his dream.Feeling aggrieved, the dragon king often appeared in the dreams of Emperor Taizong, who felt apologetic, and that led to the story that the emperor sent the Xuanzang (602-664) on a mission to the west to fetch Buddhist scriptures and release the soul of the dragon from purgatory. Legend has it that the beheaded dragon king appeared by the Yangtze River in the form of sand dunes, which later became what we call Sixiang today.

Because of the sand dunes, Yunquan Mountain and the Post House Mountain were connected, and at their foot formed a lake as clear and flat as a mirror. According to historical records, this lake was known as Jinniu Lake (the Golden Buffalo Lake) because a golden buffalo was detected there. It was also called Mingsheng Lake or Shihu Lake (the Stone Lake) because it was located at the foot of the Stone Dragon Mountain. Emperor Taizong exerted himself to govern the country and humbly took advice. He showed great respect to Wei, who admonished as before. Their combined efforts finally helped usher in a flourishing age.

Later, saddened by Wei’s death, the emperor said emotionally,“Take bronze as a mirror to straighten one’s clothes; take history as a mirror to tell the rise and fall; take people as a mirror to know one’s gain and loss. Now Wei Zheng is dead, and I lost one mirror.” People in Qiantang thus named this lake after the emperor’s remark to educate future generations. Previous names gradually sank into oblivion, whereas “Tongjian” (bronze mirror)got more accepted.

You will find that the lake looks like a treasure trove, or a grand master’s chair, with the left arm against the Post House Mountain,the right one against Huashan Mountain, and its back against the Stone Dragon Mountain. It’s as bright and clear as a bronze mirror on a sunny morning or under the setting sun. With a lush green spring, a lotus-embellished summer, a crimson autumn, and a snow-covered winter, the lake has something special to offer in each season. With an area of nearly 200 hectares, the lake is right at the lake center is the Peach Blossom Islet. You can stay in a B&B by the lake, lap up the ripples of clear water on a boat, climb Tanshan Mountain, see the morning sun rise above the lake, enjoy the glorious sunset, and listen to the bells from Ciyan Temple in the distance. When at leisure, try pick some water chestnuts and water shield, listen to stories about Zhu Xi’s teaching and sip at Jiuqu Hongmei Black Tea. How leisurely it is!

銅鑒湖。Tongjian Lake.