古往今來話西施

陳侃章

▲史學篇

2006年5月20日，中華人民共和國國務院公布第一批國家級非物質文化遺產，將西施傳說納入其中。

世上本沒有傳說，有了文化記憶才產生傳說。當這種傳說依附于真實的歷史人物，且這個人物又是一顰一笑、顧盼生輝的鄰家女孩，那么這種傳說便真切可感，令人津津樂道無窮期——西施的故事，就誕生于那段“生聚教訓”的經典歷史中。

西施其人

春秋戰國時期，吳越兩國互相攻伐。公元前494年，吳國擊敗越國，越王句踐屈膝求和，隨之入吳為人質。在吳服役之日，句踐嘗盡人間悲苦。為求生獲釋，低聲下氣，對吳王執禮極恭。越國政事由文種主持，外屈內躬，百般調和，并以重金賄賂吳國太宰伯嚭（pǐ）。公元前490年，吳國終于釋放了囚禁三年的句踐。

句踐歸國，發誓洗雪這奇恥大辱，便臥薪嘗膽，廣開言路，制定并實施九項興越滅吳之策，其中第四術據“吳王淫而好色，宰嚭佞以曳心，往獻美女，其必受之”的特點而制訂。幾經尋覓后，終于在諸暨苧蘿山找到超塵脫俗的西施和鄭旦。

西施，相傳姓施，名夷光，世居諸暨苧蘿山下（今浙江省諸暨市城南），苧蘿山下有東西兩村，夷光居西村，故名西施。苧蘿山又名羅山，山不高而挺拔，林不茂而奇秀，苧葉蒼翠，葛蘿片片，因盛產“如絲之苧”，故名。浣江流經山下，略呈回流，復向東去。西施父賣柴為生，母浣紗為業，西施幼即浣紗，世稱“浣紗女”，天生麗質，為絕世之美人。

鄭旦，字修明，與西施同為苧蘿山下女，居浣江東側，亦美艷絕倫，與西施同時被選中。

句踐踐恐鄉女鄙樸，就把她們安置到越國都城會稽（今紹興）土城山，學習宮廷歌舞禮儀，三年乃成。并由范蠡將西施、鄭旦護送到吳都蘇州，獻于吳王。夫差喜形于色：“越貢二女，乃句踐之盡忠于吳之證也。”吳國重臣伍子胥據史引例，力諫不可納貢。然夫差終不聽諫，遂納西施、鄭旦為寵妃，沉溺其間，不能自拔。李白有詩感嘆：“姑蘇臺上烏棲時，吳王宮里醉西施。吳歌楚舞歡未畢，青山欲銜半邊日。”

顯然，西施、鄭旦是句踐送給吳王極為重要的貢品。面對國亡家破之痛，興越滅吳是越國上下一致的誓愿。從最低限度上說，作為青年女子，她們作出了自己所能作出的最大犧牲。毫無疑義，西施、鄭旦為“十年生聚、十年教訓”的復仇雪恥計劃作出了歷史性貢獻。

關于西施的記載，首先散見于先秦諸子百家。《墨子》云：“西施之沉，其美也。”來到兩漢，提到西施的書也很多。唐宋元明清各代史冊地志，記載西施、鄭旦不勝枚舉，且多有濃墨重彩之筆。

西施、鄭旦等人，在文物上也有體現。在越國故都紹興出土的漢代“吳越人物畫像銅鏡”上，畫面圍繞吳越兩國君臣人物展開，鏡背以四分法分布，分別是吳王、伍子胥、越王和范蠡以及越女二人。吳王氣憤填胸，側目怒視伍子胥;伍子胥慷慨激昂，拔劍作自刎狀;越女二人寬袖長裙，粉面含春，亭亭玉立于寶器旁;另一區間，越王句踐和范蠡躊躇滿志，洋洋自得。

而珍貴的青銅器吳王夫差盉，穿越兩千多年的風云，于1995年款款進入專家視線。這件青銅器造型古樸典雅，上海博物館以重金從香港引入內地。盉的肩上刻有銘文，是獻給“無名女子”的禮品。春秋時的青銅器，均為上層貴族所獨享，然該青銅器上并未標明女子姓名、稱號，說明這個女子原本地位低下，但又為夫差所寵幸，這與西施的經歷相吻合。專家們綜合分析后認定，這是夫差送給西施的“愛情信物”。

當年，西施由越入吳，與范蠡相伴而行，一個柔腸百轉，一個策馬盤旋，步履遲遲、互道珍重，肩負重托、莫知我哀。那一幕幕蕩氣回腸、亙古流傳的歷史話劇就這樣徐徐拉開帷幕。

西施之美

西施之美，在先秦諸子的文字中屢見。在《慎子》中，西施是天下最漂亮的女子。在《莊子》中，西施之美顏玉容被描寫得栩栩如生。“西施病心而顰其里。其里之丑人見而美之，歸亦捧心而顰其里。”西子捧心，東施效顰，這個對比鮮明的成語就由此而來。

《孟子》認為，即使美如西施，也應愛憐，否則“西子蒙不潔，人皆掩鼻而過之”。體察這句話，還有一層含義值得重視：對西施的尊敬。孟子并不僅限于其美艷，“子”這個稱呼，即使用在男人身上也是難得的尊稱。然孟子卻將“子”加諸一介“浣紗女”，可謂尊榮復尊榮，開啟百代崇敬之路。

時光流逝，縱貫千年，大才子蘇東坡橫空出世。這位杭州太守面對西湖觸景生情，別有意味地將西湖形象升華，于是有了“欲把西湖比西子，淡妝濃抹總相宜”這一千古名句，巧妙地把中國人的景觀審美習慣，有機糅合到天人合一的哲學境界。從此“西子湖”的美稱流播八方，西施與山水美景交融相伴，互相成就永恒。

西施影響的廣泛深遠，形象的真實豐滿，借助于文學作品栩栩如生的描繪，深入人心。

東晉王嘉《拾遺記》描寫了西施、鄭旦的驚世容顏。吳國將西施、鄭旦“處于椒花之房，貫細珠為簾幌，朝下以蔽景，夕卷以待月，吳王夫差目之，若雙鸞之在輕霧，沚水之漾秋蕖。”

《全唐詩》錄存唐進士王軒與西施對吟，可謂足夠浪漫。王軒跋山涉水來到諸暨，云游苧蘿山，泊舟浣紗溪，凝視浣紗石，墜入其中而不能自拔，乃趁興題詩石上：“嶺上千峰秀，江邊細草春。今逢浣紗石，不見浣紗人。”西施聞聲，飄然現形，答曰：“妾自吳國還越國，素衣千載無人識。當日心比金石堅，今日為君堅不得。”這跨越時空的兩情相悅，比之當下歷史穿越劇毫不遜色。

至元代，許多敷演西施史事的雜劇出現，其中首推關漢卿《姑蘇臺范蠡進西施》。而伊世珍的《瑯嬛記》則將西施寫得“妙不可言”：身體散發異香，每次沐浴完畢，宮人爭先恐后把西施沐浴之水存放到缸里，然后用松枝蘸著，灑到門窗板壁上，頓時香氣滿室。

明代諸暨的《苧蘿西子志》，匯集了江浙數十位知府知縣，還有翰林、尚書和一大批進士、舉人的詩文。這176位飽學之士，摹其明眸善睞之風韻，狀其顰眉捧心之豐儀，洋洋灑灑，共同為西施唱一曲千古贊歌。卷首為開國皇帝朱元璋的《天生兩奇絕》五言古詩，把西施、鄭旦提到一個前所未有的高度。有了“皇恩浩蕩”，此書自然不同凡響，穿越歲月風煙，依然厚重扎實。

《紅樓夢》第六十四回，曹雪芹運用對比手法借林黛玉之口說出：“一代傾城逐浪花，吳宮空自憶兒家。效顰莫笑東村女，頭白溪邊尚浣紗。”表達的意思很清楚：一代傾城美女已隨浪而逝，只有東村效顰女子平安白頭至今。真所謂紅顏者薄命矣！

《東周列國志》的說法有了變化：句踐夫人出于女人之妒，不容置西施于越王之旁。“句踐班師回越，攜西施而歸。越夫人潛使人引出，負以大石，沉下江中，曰‘此亡國之物，留之何為。”

西施歸隱山林說。越國得勝歸來，西施不戀榮華富貴，懇求回家侍奉雙親，終老山林。后在浣紗時失足落水而亡，想必是宮中盤桓多年，當年嫻熟技藝荒廢所致。宋之問亦說：“一朝還舊都，倩裝尋若耶。鳥驚入松蘿，魚畏沉荷花。”此處所云“舊都”，即指越國原都城諸暨，以區別于后來遷到會稽的新都城會稽。串連這些詩句，西施“歸隱山林”之說呼之欲出。

關于西施的下落，雖有諸說，但或浮或沉，或隱居湖畔，或失足落水，都沒有離開江湖河水。看來，這位自幼與水為伴的浣紗女子，最終還是在流水中找到歸宿，豈非命運使然？

Xi Shi the Beauty： Legend of 2，000 Years and More

By Chen Kanzhang

Xi Shi （506BC-？）， now part of cultural signatures of Zhejiang， was one of the renowned Four Beauties of ancient China. She was said to have lived during the end of the Spring and Autumn period in Zhuji， the capital of ancient State of Yue. Her legend is not wholly about her beauty， but largely about her engagement in a long-term strategy of the Yue State to take a revenge on its arch-enemy Wu State. She is said to have contributed to the eventual downfall of the Wu State.

King Goujian of Yue was defeated in a war and then imprisoned by King Fuchai of Wu. Yue later became a tributary state to Wu. Secretly planning his survival and comeback and revenge， Goujians minister Wen Zhong came up with a set of strategies. One of the plots was to train beautiful women and offer them to the King of Wu State as a tribute （knowing Fuchai could not resist beautiful women）. Fan Li， another minister of King Goujian， found Xi Shi and Zheng Dan， two young girls from Zhuji， and gave them to Fuchai in 490BC.

In 1995， Shanghai Museum purchased a bronze object from Hong Kong. The object was a gift traced back to King Fuchai of the Wu State. It was a gift from the king to a woman whose origin of family and name were not important enough to be engraved on the bronze piece. Experts conjectured that it was a gift from Fuchai to Xi Shi.

The beauty of Xi Shi has been discussed in historical literature since pre-Qin times. Zhuangzi （369-286BC） and Mencius （c. 372-c. 289 BC）， two greatest scholars of that time， mentioned Xi Shi in their respective works. Xi Shi as a symbol of beauty has appeared in poems and essays over the last 2，000 years. Su Dongpo （1037-1101）， presumably the greatest poet?of the Song Dynasty （960-1279）， compared West Lake to Xi Shi （known as Xi Zi as first called so by Mencius）. Since then， West Lake has been widely considered named after the beauty.

She has also appeared in quite a few opera plays since the Yuan Dynasty （1279-1368）. In the Ming （1368-1644） 176 scholars and government officials put together a book of poems and essays singing of Xi Shi the Beauty.

And Xi Shi has been a beauty in various folktales. A long time ago， the route she took to travel from Zhuji to Suzhou， the capital of the State of Wu， was determined by folk historians. Nowadays， the cities and counties on her way northward have historical sites in honor of her. Visit these historical sites， and you can well imagine why they were named after Xi Shi.

In Zhuji， there are many historical sites in memory of the local beauty of national renown. Some of these memorial sites date back to the Southern Song Dynasty （1127-1279）. Zhuji has a Xi Shi memorial temple. And Xiaoshan， previously a rural county adjacent to Zhuji and now part of Hangzhou， also has a Xi Shi memorial temple. Yu Xuanji （844-871）， a woman poet in the Tang Dynasty （618-906）， wrote a poem about the temple in honor of the beauty. Qin Guan （1049-1100）， a poet of the Song Dynasty （960-1279）， wrote a poem about his visit to Shaoxing. He mentioned Xi Shi and her home village Zhuluo. The temple was destroyed in the 1940s by Japanese bombs. It was not until 1985 a restoration project was launched to build the temple on the previous site at the foot of Zhuluo Hill. The temple on the western bank of Huansha River was open to the public in 1990. Now on the eastern riverbank of Huansha River is a site presenting the home village of Zhuluo.

Fortunately， Huansha （fabric washing） in the handwriting of Wang Xizhi （303-361）， presumably the greatest calligrapher in the history of China， is still there on a cliff surface. Wang Xizhi isnt the only ancient great who left his art there. Historical accounts document more than 20 great ancients and modern men of letters who visited Zhuji in honor of Xi Shi.

Historians do not know where Xi Shi was buried. They dont know when and how she passed away. Different stories indicate different fates of the beauty. In the Tang Dynasty， Lu Guangwei wrote in a regional history that Xi Shi retired to a life with Fan Li， a minister of King Goujian. Nobody knew where she retired. Her happy life after working undercover in the enemys kingdom and helping topple the kingdom was born out of the ideal that heroes retire to a quiet and safe and enjoyable life after colossal success. In contrast to the happy ending for the beauty， there are some tragic stories. She was executed by drowning in a river. According to Mozi （479-381BC）， another great scholar of the pre-Qin centuries， she was killed because somebody was jealous of her celestial beauty. Another tale about her death points to the wife of King Goujian. Presumably the wife said that the young girl was inauspicious because she had brought down a kingdom. From this folktale it can be assumed that the heartthrob was executed in river for fear that she might bring down another.