威武雄壯桃渚城

到抗倭名城浙江臨海市桃渚城游覽，讓人感到深深的震撼。

桃渚沐浴在濃濃的秋陽中，當我們走到明代刑部郎中何寵所撰的《新建敵臺碑記》前，細細一讀碑文，我們一行仿佛看見桃渚當年那抗倭的壯烈情景：那漫天飛舞的旌旗、那軍民手中高舉的矛戟，那一聲聲怒吼和震天的鼓聲……叫人心潮起伏，熱血沸騰!

這座專為抗倭而建造的明代古城堡，現為全國重點文物保護單位，浙江省軍事教育基地，位于歷史文化名城臨海市以東約50公里的海邊。它的規模不算大，“城高二丈一尺，周圍二里七十步”，為明代正統八年(1443)由戶部侍郎焦宏督造，初建時為土城，后建成石城，經這百余年風雨后，到了嘉靖三十八年(1559)，戚繼光將軍為抗倭又在此修城，并新建東、西兩座敵臺。修建后城基寬10米，總長1400米，設東、西、南三座城門，城門外筑有甕城。城內的北山上刻有明楚將軍胡海題的楷書“眺遠”兩字以及古越鮑大海題的楷書“鎮海”。

威武雄壯的桃渚城，成了明廷在江浙一帶建造的50多個衛所之一，它在壯烈的抗倭史上，閃躍著永遠的光輝，來到桃渚，讓人看到了500多年前的刀光血影：明正統四年(1439)，倭寇數千攻入桃渚，他們“驅掠少壯，發掘冢墓；束嬰竿上，沃以沸湯，視其啼號，拍手笑樂；捕得孕婦，卜度男女，刳視中否為勝負飲酒。”那時的桃渚內外“積骸如陵，流血成川，城野蕭條，過者隕涕。”到了嘉靖年間，倭患益熾。嘉靖三十八年(1559)春，上千名倭寇在臺州海登陸，把這個小小的城堡圍個水泄不通，桃渚千戶翟銓，率領全城軍民苦戰七天七夜，眼看倭寇就要破城，在這千鈞一發之際，戚繼光統率戚家軍從寧海日夜兼程趕赴桃渚，戚家軍的幾十名烏銃手預先悄然潛入城中，然后內外夾擊，倭寇腹背受敵，頓時亂了陣腳。戚繼光抓住戰機揮師全線猛擊，全殲頑倭，這就是著名的桃渚大捷。

仰觀雄偉屹立的古城，人們不禁會聯想到長城，它不正是長城的縮影嗎?至今，在這古樸寧靜的民居中，許多居民還供奉著戚繼光的靈位，青年農民差不多都會打幾套“繼光拳”，街上有“繼光餅”出售，城內還有抗倭博物館，陳列著許多抗倭史跡……

桃渚城作為國家地質公園、省級風景名勝區，每天都吸引著眾多慕名前來的游客。這里有八洞、十二峰、三十六奇巖千姿百態、千峰萬壑，既有雁蕩之奇險，又具普陀之秀麗。早在宋、明時代，宛若仙山的桃渚就受到文天祥、張煌言的深情贊嘆，文天祥感而賦詩曰：“海上仙子國，邂逅寄孤篷。萬象畫圖里，千巖玉界中。”

回望桃渚，它在山海中始終巍峨挺立，它歷經500多年的風風雨雨，然而它的神韻風采、它的氣勢魂魄始終不變，直讓人胸臆激蕩!

(本文攝影侯路)

A Defense Fortress Witnesses the Atrocities of Japanese Pirates

By Lu Yiguang

Taozhu is the name for one of the 50 fortresses built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces against invading Japanese pirates.

About 50 kilometers east of Linhai， the seaside fortress was first built in 1443. The adobe fortress was built into a stone defense work. It was expanded in 1559. Today， the circumference measures 1，400 meters long and the wall base is ten meters wide.

The military fortress， now under the state protection as a major historical and cultural site， witnessed the atrocities of Japanese pirates and the fiercest battles fought by the local people in defense of their peaceful life.

In 1439， thousands of Japanese pirates landed at Taozhu. After seizing the town， they dug up tombs; they tied babies on bamboo poles and poured boiling water on them， laughing and clapping their hands when watching the babies wailing. They bet on pregnant women to identify the fetuses?sex and then they slit open their bellies to determine who won the bet. According to history， after the Japanese pirates withdrew， the corpses were piled up like a hill and blood flew like a river. The whole of Taozhu was devastated. Passers-by cried at the horrible sight.

In the spring of 1559， nearly a thousand of Japanese pirates invaded from the Taizhou Sea. They besieged Taozhu. A battalion commander named Zhai Quan organized the defense. The battle raged for 7 days and nights. When the city was about to fall into the enemy's hands， Qi Jiguang and his troops arrived after a forced match day and night from Ninghai. Qi sent dozens of blunderbuss men sneaking into the fortress. Then his troops attacked the Japanese pirates from both within and without. All the Japanese pirates were annihilated. This is known as the Victory of Taozhu.

Many local residents today still have a sacrificial tablet at their houses in memory of Qi Jiguang， a national hero who fought and beat Japanese pirates. Young men can do some martial arts named after the general. There is a museum in the town where the history of fighting the invading Japanese pirates is displayed. Taozhu is now a base for military education in Zhejiang Province.

Nowadays， the ancient fortress is also a tourist attraction. Taozhu is not only a state geological park but also a province-grade scenic zone. Caves， peaks and cliffs show natural splendor and grace.

(Translated by David)