劉伯溫故里行

三月陽春，我來到了劉基故里，感受這位千古人豪的魅力。

劉基(1311——1375)，字伯溫，謚號文成，浙江溫州文成縣南田鎮人(舊屬青田縣)。文成縣的縣名就來自劉基的謚號。一個縣以一人之號為命名，不能不說是一種最高禮贊。

劉伯溫故里風貌在想象之中，又在想象之外。四面環山，左有弓箭山，右有寶劍山，鄉里人稱“左弓右箭，金龜把水口”，此地必出軍事家。劉基故居面朝壽桃山，中間一大片整飭的稻田，田中分布著七個大土墩，似星宿般地有序排列，鄉里人稱它為“七星落”，是一塊風水寶地，在中國的歷史文化背景里，似乎這塊寶地正適合劉伯溫這樣的人物出生。

到了劉伯溫故居門口，不意遇到“鐵將軍把門”，幸好從門縫里看進去，故居景象一覽無余：小小的一個院子，幾間瓦房，一個茅亭，顯得十分普通，據說現存的幾間瓦房原來也是茅房，因為茅草經不起風吹雨打，今人才將它換成了瓦屋。《明史·劉基傳》記述劉伯溫晚年辭官返歸故里的生活異常生動：“洪武四年正月賜老歸，惟飲酒，弈棋，口不言功。邑令求見不得，微服為野人謁見。基方濯足，令從子引入茅舍。”一代開國元勛返里后就住在這樣的宅第里，人們原以為劉伯溫故里一定是庭院深深，富麗堂皇，不意卻簡樸如斯，實在讓人感佩。

從劉伯溫故居前行不遠，就到了他后來的隱居處。這里一處小小住宅依山而建，面向平野，一條小溪在宅前緩緩流過，田野之外是綿綿山脈。宅前一片池塘，也正合他的“塘之蓄水，足以陰地脈，養其氣”之說。池上有小亭兩座，飛檐翹角，相對而立，一名謹觀，一名慎思。隱宅在池后一溜排開，東廂為臥房，西廂為書房，中為正房。書房名“知新齋”，取孔子“溫故而知新”意；正房名“云鶴樓”，寄浮云野鶴的曠達之心。池畔宅旁草木清幽，好一個美麗寧靜的所在!劉伯溫早年在家鄉隱居時，創作了著名的《郁離子》，其中《賣柑者言》后來被選入中學語文課本，“金玉其外，敗絮其中”的成語即出于此。

劉伯溫從黑暗的政治漩渦中撤退到平靜的田園生活里，猶如“綠鳧水中游，白鶴云間飛”，心情得到了盡情的釋放，但江山依然不寧，歲月始終無法平靜。不久，朱元璋又派人延請劉基出山任謀臣，輔助朱元璋滅陳友諒、執張士誠、降方國珍，北伐中原以成統一大業。然而，劉伯溫這次出山，下贏了天下這盤棋局，卻對自己的人生棋局下得失敗了，他因“功高震主”，事后成了至高無上的皇帝朱元璋漸漸對其有了猜忌，再加上小人推波助瀾，橫加陷害，于是一代豪杰終于憂憤成疾，郁郁而亡。直到明正德時劉伯溫才得到平反，追封其為太師，謚文成，在皇帝的《贈謚太師文成誥》上，稱劉伯溫“學為帝師，才稱王佐”。后來，劉伯溫廟遍布溫州、麗水等地，其中尤以南田誠意伯廟為最。

誠意伯廟始建于明天順三年，它背靠華蓋山，為七間三進回廊合院式木結構建筑，占地約3000平方米。走近廟宇，首先映入眼簾的是兩座木牌坊，前題“王佐”，后題“帝師”，頗顯肅穆莊嚴。正廳內有像三尊，居中者為劉基，左右一文一武官員狀，分別為劉基長子璉、次子。廟內最引人注目的是琳瑯滿目的名人題詞，柱上梁間幾無空隙，密布著明正德皇帝、清乾隆大學士劉權之以及沙孟海等書題的匾額楹聯，其中以“三不朽偉人”楹聯最能概括劉基一生成就：中國士子追求的人生最高理想是“立功、立言、立德”，但能三項俱全的可謂鳳毛麟角，劉基卻是其中之一。他運籌帷幄，決勝千里，殲滅群雄，被明武宗譽為“渡江策士無雙，開國文臣第一”，可謂立功極致；他有《誠意伯文集》20卷問世，兵書《百戰奇略》和寓言散文集《郁離子》等為世所重，與宋濂并稱為一代文宗，“立言”一項亦足慰平生了；而立德他也為世之楷模，明時開國功臣大封賞，以劉基之功，封王封公都不為過，他卻甘居“誠意伯”之“伯”爵位，歸隱后住茅舍、炊黍飯，口不言功，生活儉樸得讓人難于想象。他對死的安排更顯淡泊，臨終前兒子劉璉、劉呈上石馬、石獅、石將軍把門和條塊石鋪成的石墓圖案，被劉基頓時撕得粉碎，他對子曰：“墳墓上草下土，若用石鋪怎能生草?古人造字大有講究，人不能靠造墳墓立牌坊流芳百世。”

A Visit to Liu’s Home County

By Ye Yanli

I visited Wencheng County in March to get a feel of the home village of Liu Bowen (1311-1375)， the man who helped found the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). He was given a posthumous title honorary of Wencheng， which became the name of the county in southern Zhejiang， where he was born and died. It is a great honor for a historical figure.

The village and its surrounding areas are beyond my imagination but meet my expectations at the same time. Liu’s former residence looks out to stretching rice paddies till they reach the Longevity Peach Mount. The paddies are adorned by seven large mounds， aligned like a stellar system. Understandably， the local people still believe the geomantic omens in the local geography were supernatural. According to the local folklore， such a place was blessed and a great man like Liu was bound to be born there.

The day I visited it， the former residence was locked. I peeped through the gate. Inside was a small courtyard flanked by a tiled-roof multi-room house and a thatched pavilion. Nothing appeared extraordinary. It was said that the house was previously thatched and that villagers put tiles upon the roof in order that the thatch would not scatter in wind. It was not the house where Liu led a retired life. Another little house， not far from his former residence， was where he lived in seclusion. In front of the house are a quiet stream and a pond with two pavilions. Hills stretch beyond the fields.

According to history， Liu retired from the royal court to his home village in the fourth year of the Hongwu Period (1368-1399) of the Ming Dynasty. Leading an ordinary life in his old home， he enjoyed sipping wine and playing chess， and never talked about his past glories. He declined to meet the local magistrate who had come all the way to visit him.The retired councilor would rather rub shoulders with his fellow villagers.

Liu in the capacity of a military councilor helped Zhu Yuanzhang， who later became the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty， to eliminate rivals and overthrow the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). The emperor trusted no one after he came to the throne. A bloody cruel purge followed. Liu resigned and retired to his home village. It was not until 139 years after his death that the royal court remembered him again and granted him an honorary title， lauding him as a man who acted as the emperor’s tutor and helped a man accomplish his ambition of becoming an emperor. After the political rehabilitation， many temples appeared in southern Zhejiang in memory of the councilor.

One temple still stands in the county today. Built in the year of 1458 and near his former residence， the 3，000-square-meter temple is a stretching wooden structure connected with three courtyards in between. Standing in front of the temple are two wooden memorial archways. The temple abounds with the inscriptions from the Emperor Zhengde (1506-1522) of the Ming Dynasty， high-ranking officials and scholars of the Ming and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties and modern times.

I believe one of the inscriptions there describes Liu’s life achievements best: A great man with three immortal achievements. Scholars in the ancient central kingdom aspired to rise to prominence by doing the three things: rending meritorious service to the country， writing a timeless literary masterpiece， and being a purely virtuous man. Few could distinguish themselves in all the three dimensions. Liu was one of the few. He formulated strategies that helped Zhu Yuanzhang win military battles and ascend to the throne. He wrote twenty volumes of books， including a book on military strategies and a book of fables. One of them， The Orange Vendor， is a must-read in the textbook for secondary school students nationwide. And he was a virtuous man: he never came forward to claim credits for himself when others vied each other to get ahead. Instead， he retired after his success to a simple life in a remote rural village. He wanted his burial simple too. His two sons showed him a tomb building design sketch with all the stone-sculpted horses and lions and generals that were supposed to guard his tomb. On his death bed， the senior tore up the design saying， 夷 (tomb) was a nice word when our ancestors created it. The radicals suggest grass above and earth beneath. If you place all the stones there， how could grass grow? The ancients put particular meanings into words. A tombstone cannot make a man live forever.Oacute;

(Translated by David)