放簰會：重現56年前的風景

●王福田

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放簰會：重現56年前的風景

●王福田

“咚咚咚！咚咚咚！”、“嚓嚓嚓！嚓嚓嚓！”、“砰啪！嘭啪！”……

2015年12月25日上午9時，一向平靜安詳的浙江德清縣筏頭鄉東沈村鑼鼓喧天、鞭炮齊鳴，貫穿村莊的盤溪兩岸人聲鼎沸，武俠小說中的“水上漂”神功在這里驚現，溪流中間飄蕩著長長的如游龍般的竹排。來自四面八方的人們，沿著岸邊奔跑著、呼喊著、擁擠著，爭相用手機拍照，更有大批專業攝影師托著長短鏡頭、支起三腳架，記錄著熱烈而驚人的場景。盛行千百年而于1959年中斷的筏頭鄉“放簰會”在這里重新上演。

溪流中的竹排擊浪奮進。Bamboo rafts ride down on the river.

激流中的竹排和岸上的人Spectators watch the rafting for the first time in their lifetime in excitement.

恢復傳統技藝：鄉賢資助、山民踴躍

據清道光《武康縣志》記載，自唐宋時期，德清西部山區南、北、中三路的竹木做成排，隨水放運到秋月潭匯聚。各竹木戶主找到買主出賣后，買主把竹排隨水放至武康，再與各地買主成交轉運。聚排于此，放排于此，故稱“排頭”。放排者聚會的團體簡稱“放排會”。

據秋氏祠堂家譜記載：明清時期，竹木山貨盛行，在排頭掛牌做生意的竹木山貨店多達七十余家，顯示出放排業的興旺發達。這時，章家秀才章百萬適時提出改排頭為牌頭的主意，很快得到了行家、店主和百姓的贊同，排頭地名被商業名稱替代，牌頭叫響了。元泰定年間，為突出竹鄉特色，“牌”轉變為“簰”。清道光《武康縣志》記載：竹木出山，簰行必始于此，故號簰頭。早年的“放排會”也逐漸成了“放簰會”。

東沈村是德清西部山區毛竹主要產區，千百年來，山民砍竹、拖竹、放排，形成了獨特的生產、生活方式。竹排是西部山區傳統的水上運輸毛竹的工具，在沒有公路的年代，山里的毛竹全部是通過竹排運輸的。直至1959年，對河口水庫建成以及公路建設的發展，汽車運輸代替了水上放排，竹排漸漸淡出了人們的視線，扎竹排這項傳統技藝也就慢慢消失了。

2015年8月，東沈村在建造農村文化禮堂、挖掘山村民俗文化時，通過資料查證，特別是與大批鄉賢交流中，大家一致覺得應該恢復水上竹排運毛竹的傳統技藝，郎妙金當場表示出資贊助這項活動。隨之，74歲的郎慶林、70歲的單利榮主動擔當召集人，聘請80歲的宣阿道進行現場指導，村民積極貢獻毛竹、報名撐排、疏浚河道、圍堰蓄水等，經過4個多月的謀劃、準備，選定12月25日“開水放排”。

三位放排手順利抵達目的地。Three rafters pose proudly for a photo after their successful trip down the river.

老少攜手：272根毛竹順水漂流抵達目的地

“放竹排”是一項動人心魄的民俗文化活動。

“現在50多歲的人基本上都沒有現場觀看過放竹排。我從1956年、自己20歲開始學撐排，也只干了四年多，就沒有機會再干了。”宣阿道說，放排是既艱苦又充滿風險的活，搶排、撞排、扭排、堆排的兇險事，隨時可能發生。放排工在放排時遭傷殘的更是屢見不鮮，喪命的算來也不少。因為放排過程驚險，所以身手敏捷、頭腦靈活的青壯年才能參與、擔當。

今年5 6歲的孫財福是這次“放簰會”上頭排工，他曾經是30多年的拖拉機手。雖然自己沒有干過放竹排活計，甚至沒有在電影電視上見過，但是他聰明好學、水上功夫較好，特別是有股闖勁。被大家選中后，自己又提議61歲的宣根火作排尾。接著，70歲的單利榮主動在中間配合。

在長長的彎彎曲曲的盤溪上，272根毛竹以帖相聚，帖帖相連。三名撐排工頭戴斗笠、肩披蓑衣、腳蹬山襪、手持長篙，威風凜凜站在水中央，時而點篙索篙，時而勒篙牽篙，綿延80多米長的竹排順溪漂流，急速直下，時而如長蛇游動，時而似蛟龍翻騰。經過兩個多小時的奮力拼搏，竹排終于抵達終點。

上圖 “放竹簰”水上活動吸引四方人群。下圖 竹排破浪穿越激流。Bamboo rafting on the river attracts a lot of spectators.

記得鄉愁：綠水青山就是金山銀山

記得鄉愁村史，傳承傳統文化，體驗戶外樂趣，“放簰會”為文化旅游撐起了好平臺。

今年30歲的施晨霞是東沈人，現在杭州蕭山工作。這次恰巧碰到“放簰會”。他在微信朋友圈里這樣寫道：“這是傳承老一輩的技藝，我們年輕一代都沒見過。想當年，老一輩就是用這樣的交通工具運輸毛竹。今日看到感觸特深，感嘆老一輩人的智慧與辛苦。今天，我那2013年出生的小寶寶也看到了這一幕，雖然他還不懂，但如果這樣一直傳承下去，孩子長大了也會懂得的！”微信發出不到30分鐘，點贊的就達80多人，許多朋友不停地問放簰會在哪里舉行？是干什么的？明天來能看上嗎？

來自上海的陳蘭已經在東沈投資開辦“富源山居”民宿。她說：東沈村森林覆蓋廣闊，轄區過境雨量充沛，河道寬闊，碧波蕩漾，兩岸青山秀美猶如“畫廊”，很適合發展休閑旅游產業。正在現場考察德清山岙的一家戶外運動公司負責人黃希睿接著說：“我們打算跟東沈合作，將放排作為今后的一個戶外運動項目推出去，打造東沈特色旅游產品。”

望得見山、看得見水、記得住鄉愁，東沈“放簰會”也引起了筏頭鄉82歲的民俗研究者王鳳鳴的贊嘆：1949年前，筏頭有南路、中路、北路共三路放竹班。各路竹排匯聚到秋月潭進行交易，然后由合記放竹班運輸到武康。當年，這些活動非常熱鬧，如今，東沈率先恢復這項古老的活動，既為傳承非物質文化遺產撐起了一個好平臺，還可以成為攝影、觀光、休閑等戶外體驗項目，為各種旅游文化活動的開展打造一個好品牌。

Bamboo Rafts League Resumed in Deqing

By Wang Futian

青青竹排溪中游Bamboo rafts are a thing to watch against a picturesque background.

Nine o’clock on the morning of December 25, 2015 was a big moment for local people at Dongshen Village, Deqing County in northern Zhejiang. Firecrackers were set off among the loud rhythmic performance of percussion music along the Panxi River. The spectators crowded on the river banks cheering loudly while a long procession of bamboo rafts traveled down from mountains.

It was the big comeback of bamboo rafting on the river, which had not been seen since 1959 when a reservoir and a network of country highways ended the tradition of more than 1,000 years.

The transportation method in the region goes back to the Tang (618-907). According to the local annals compiled in the mid 19th century, bamboos and timbers harvested in the mountainous region of the county were first made into rafts for the purpose of transporting. The rafts came from mountains and got on a long drive to Autumn Moon Pond where owners met buyers and made deals. After the money and the ownership changed hands, the rafts went on another long drive to Wukang, the seat of the county, where sellers and buyers from outside the county made deals.

Back then, Dongshen Village was called Paitou, referring to the bamboo trade and rafts. In the Ming and the Qing, Paitou had more than 70 businesses engaged in transactions of bamboo, wood timber and mountain produces. The village is a major producer of bamboo in the western Deqing. For more than 1,000 years, bamboo has been a major pillar of the local economy. Before the era of highways, all the bamboos were rafted down streams and rivers.

It was not until August 2015 when villagers were exploring local history and culture that bamboo rafts were mentioned again. The elders of the village were excited by a proposal that it was high time to bring the tradition back as a cultural project. They got themselves organized and preparations started. Funds were raised, bamboos were donated, volunteers were picked, advisors and organizers were elected, the river was dredged, and a dam was built to raise the water level.

Xuan Adao, now 80, started his rafting job in 1956. He rode rafts down the river for only four years. He said the villagers now in their 50s had no memory of seeing rafts come down the river. Raft drives were dangerous. Rafts could get entangled in many ways and rafting people got hurt easily. Some were disabled by injuries and some got killed. Only the young people were allowed to ride rafts.

But this time, three relatively old people were chosen to drive the rafts. The 80-meter-long fleet of the rafts was made of 272 bamboo poles. The 56-year-old Sun Caifu steered the rafts in the front. The 61-year-old Xuan Genhuo brought up the rear whereas the 70-year-old Shan Lirong coordinated in the middle. They rode the rafts, maneuvering them with long poles in their hands. It took them more than two hours to travel down the river and reach the destination.

Wang Fengming, an 82-year-old local folklore researcher, recalls how the rafts operated before 1949. Back then, rafts came out of mountains following three routes. All the rafts came to Autumn Moon Pond for deals. Then a new team took the rafting over and drove the rafts down to Wukang. Wang has endorsed the comeback activity at Dongshen Village, saying that the comeback is more than about intangible cultural heritage. It can also be a platform for rural tourism to attract photographers and tourists.

Apparently the rafting has attracted the attention of investors. Chen Lan, a Shanghai investor, has set up a hotel at Dongshen. She believes the village is an ideal tourist destination thanks to its dense forest coverage, ample rainfall and crystal-clear rivers. A local outdoor sporting company is also considering the possibilities of working with Dongshen Village and including rafting as an attraction.