“魚美人”暢游稻叢

聯(lián)合國糧農(nóng)組織在世界范圍內(nèi)評(píng)選出5個(gè)古老的農(nóng)業(yè)作業(yè)，作為世界農(nóng)業(yè)遺產(chǎn)進(jìn)行保護(hù)。有著悠久歷史的浙江青田縣“稻魚共生系統(tǒng)”，被聯(lián)合國糧農(nóng)組織列為“全球重要農(nóng)業(yè)文化遺產(chǎn)”，這是亞洲唯一入選的一個(gè)農(nóng)業(yè)項(xiàng)目，浙江青田田魚由此名馳海內(nèi)外。

五彩斑斕“魚美人”

田魚有紅、黑、白、花等多種顏色，五彩斑斕，十分好看，許多人稱它為“魚美人”。因?yàn)樗L(zhǎng)在稻田里，游動(dòng)時(shí)為了避免與稻叢碰撞，故身子練得特別輕巧，游姿極為優(yōu)美。

田魚屬鯉魚科，味道遠(yuǎn)勝一般的鯉魚。因?yàn)榍嗵锕喔鹊咎锏乃际菬o污染的山泉，田魚生長(zhǎng)在稻田里吃的是稻花、稻蟲，所以一身冰肌玉骨，肉細(xì)嫩爽口，鮮美無比，而且營(yíng)養(yǎng)豐富。尤其難能可貴的是，它的魚鱗可吃，而且特別柔軟、香艷。所以，青田人在殺田魚時(shí)都不刮魚鱗。在農(nóng)村，田魚是招待客人的首選佳品，當(dāng)?shù)剞r(nóng)民投資辦起“農(nóng)家樂”，還讓游客自己動(dòng)手喂田魚、捕田魚、燒田魚。

鮮田魚好吃，將它熏成田魚干則更有風(fēng)味。青田人在貴客臨門時(shí)，炒粉干、燒面條，總要放上一兩枚田魚干。沒有田魚干，就讓人覺得不夠“檔次”，就像當(dāng)今城里有錢人請(qǐng)客要點(diǎn)龍蝦或河蟹一樣。青田田魚在國外也很受青睞，在西班牙馬德里，1斤田魚干可賣到40歐元。

青田人還把田魚作為吉祥物，盼望“年年有余（魚）”、“魚跳龍門”、“魚水相親”。不少地方甚至把田魚當(dāng)嫁妝，其用意是討個(gè)吉利。無魚不成宴，如今吃田魚已成了青田民間風(fēng)俗和飲食文化的一大特色。

神話故事美麗動(dòng)人

說起田魚還有著非凡的來歷，民間有這樣的傳說：很早以前一個(gè)名叫田農(nóng)的青年到城里賣柴歸來，路上從一個(gè)老頭手里要來一條奄奄一息的鯉魚。他把它帶回家中養(yǎng)在水缸里給它療傷。傷愈后，他正準(zhǔn)備把它放回甌江，那魚卻變成一個(gè)美貌姑娘，自許婚姻要嫁給他。不想結(jié)婚那天突然電閃雷鳴，半空中東海法龍宣布：小鯉魚是東海龍王的外孫女，位列仙班，不能與凡人通婚。小龍女堅(jiān)決不肯回去，說她要與田農(nóng)相伴終生。法龍忍無可忍，便依法將她剝?nèi)埰ぃ瑥U掉法力，拋落在田農(nóng)的水稻田里，從此它就變成了人間的一條小鯉魚。

美麗動(dòng)人的神話故事賦予了青田田魚以神秘色彩，青田人喜歡它，愛它，把它作為忠貞愛情的象征，青田的文藝工作者還以田魚為題材編了魚燈舞，漂亮的魚燈與海寧花燈、海鹽滾燈共稱為浙江“三燈”，成為民間舞蹈中的優(yōu)秀節(jié)目。

關(guān)于“稻魚共生”，中科院一位農(nóng)業(yè)專家分析道：在經(jīng)濟(jì)不發(fā)達(dá)的山區(qū)，稻田養(yǎng)魚使農(nóng)戶既能獲得維持生命的碳水化合物，又能獲得一定的蛋白質(zhì)營(yíng)養(yǎng)。農(nóng)田水稻可為田魚提供蔭涼和有機(jī)物質(zhì)，而田魚又可以為水稻提供氧氣，消滅害蟲，有益于養(yǎng)分循環(huán)，達(dá)到“增糧、增魚、增肥、節(jié)水、節(jié)地、節(jié)成本”等多種效果。所以在農(nóng)業(yè)中的稻田養(yǎng)魚，對(duì)農(nóng)戶來說是一種特別合適的生產(chǎn)方式。有中國田魚村之稱的青田龍現(xiàn)村，村里女兒出嫁便有用田魚作嫁妝的習(xí)俗，有的嫁妝魚嫁去夫家養(yǎng)了十年、幾十年不吃不賣，其中最老的一條魚已經(jīng)養(yǎng)了39年，重達(dá)15公斤。

“吉祥天使”與“文化貴賓”

浙江青田稻田養(yǎng)魚歷史悠久，幾乎與人類文明同步。河南安陽殷墟遺址出土的甲骨卜辭有“十一月，在圃漁”的記載，可見早在商代晚期，中國就開始池塘或稻田養(yǎng)魚，而青田田魚的歷史，據(jù)《青田文物》一書記載早在夏商周時(shí)期（公元前21世紀(jì)至前256年），便有先民在甌江邊捕魚、種田和養(yǎng)魚，爾后便逐漸發(fā)展了稻田養(yǎng)魚。青田田魚被列為首批世界農(nóng)業(yè)文化遺產(chǎn)保護(hù)項(xiàng)目后，青田縣小舟山鄉(xiāng)也立起了由著名經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家費(fèi)孝通題額的“中國田魚村”花崗巖牌坊。當(dāng)時(shí)村人讓筆者給它配了一副對(duì)聯(lián)：

化龍布雨，永做五洲人吉祥天使；

造福于農(nóng)，終成聯(lián)合國文化貴賓。

短短一年時(shí)間里，小舟山全鄉(xiāng)稻田養(yǎng)魚翻了一番，放養(yǎng)5000余畝，產(chǎn)量達(dá)到3萬余公斤；青田全縣養(yǎng)魚也由5萬畝增至10萬畝，產(chǎn)值達(dá)4000多萬元，這是世界文化遺產(chǎn)保護(hù)帶來的初步成效。

Rice-Fish Farming in Qingtian

By Li Qingbao

The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations has named five ancient farming technologies worldwide as Globally Important Ingenious Agricultural Heritage Systems. The rice-fish farming developed in Qingtian County， Zhejiang Province is one of the five heritages and it is also Asia's only agricultural heritage system chosen by FAO.

The technology of raising carps in rice paddies has been in practice in Qingtian for more than a thousand years. Local historians trace fish farming in this part of the province back to the dawning of the Chinese civilization.

A scientist with the China Academy of Sciences notes that the system is very important in backward rural areas such as Qingtian. Raising fish in rice paddies enable farmers to harvest both carbohydrate and protein-rich food in the most cost-effective way. Rice paddies provide favorable habitats and organic food for fish while fish in turn generates extra oxygen to rice plants and wipes out pests. For mountain villagers in Qingtian， raising fish in rice paddies is a very suitable technique.

The carps living in rice paddies are special. They sport different colors. They look red， black or white. Some even display mixed colors. In order to avoid bumping into rice， they have developed a slender body and are able to swim in a very graceful way. For these reasons， the carp， though simply and aptly called“paddy fish”by local farmers and on domestic and international markets， are also poetically nicknamed “Beauty fish?

And they taste delicious. Rice fields in Qingtian County are irrigated with water from mountain streams. Eating no man-made feeding stuff， the carps feed on insects in rice paddies. The environment ensures their tender and tasty meat. Another special thing about the carps is that their soft fish scales are an edible delicacy. Villagers there never remove scales when they prepare paddy carps for cooking. In rural Qingtian， paddy fishes are the first choice to entertain visiting friends and relatives. Nowadays， many farm restaurants in rural Qingtian offer tourists opportunities to catch carps from paddies and cook carps.

Local farmers also make dried paddy carps， which are a delicacy， too. Rural people regale visitors with dried paddy carps just as urban people treat their guests with crabs or lobsters. In Madrid， a kilo of dried paddy carps from Qingtian costs 40 Euros.

Paddy fish is also regarded as something auspicious in Qingtian. Longxian Village maintains an age-old tradition: a good carp from a rice paddy constitutes part of a dowry. The oldest carp kept in the village came in 39 years ago and now weighs 15 kilograms. Just like legends that account for the origins of things people value， there is a myth that explains the origin of paddy carps in Qingtian. In celebration of the rice-fish farming tradition， local artists also have choreographed a fish lantern dance， which now counts as one of the three major lantern dances in the province.

Since the UN designation of the technology in 2005， more farmers in Qingtian have adopted the rice-fish farming system. In the county， the total area of rice paddies dedicated to the rice-fish system has doubled to 6，600 hectares， generating an annual income of 40 million for local farmers. (Translated by David)