夜宿水陸寺

司馬一民

蘇東坡兩度在杭州為官，疏浚西湖、筑蘇堤。讀蘇東坡寫的許多與西湖相關的詩詞，在后世人眼里，蘇東坡在杭州的日子過得很瀟灑。其實并不盡然，只不過這些吟詠西湖的詩詞太過炫目，給人造成了錯覺。不信，請讀一讀蘇軾在杭州寫的另外三首詩。蘇東坡這三首詩都與一件事情有關——湯村開運鹽河。

有必要先簡單交代一下湯村。湯村在哪里？湯村就是現在的杭州市余杭喬司。南宋《乾道臨安志》卷二載 ：湯村鎮“本仁和鎮，端拱元年改，隸仁和縣。”明永樂十一年（1413）鎮為海潮所陷，后復漲為平陸。

清康熙《杭州府志》有載：喬司鎮舊名湯村鎮，在仁和東北五十九里，明永樂十一年（1413）曾為海潮所陷，清初設鹽課司于此。民國《杭縣志稿》載：“湯村鎮市在南宋時即為兩赤縣（錢塘、仁和）十五鎮市之一。”鹽務歷代都由朝廷專管，唐乾元二年（759），朝廷派鹽鐵使主管仁和鹽業，喬司應是主管地域。喬司南面與錢塘江相近，杭州灣潮起潮落，沿江有鹽場，清鹽課司遷址于此，又改湯村為喬司，大約取鹽課司喬遷之意。民國初年，喬司與臨平、塘棲、三墩、瓶窯、良渚、留下并稱七大鎮。新中國成立后，1950年，杭縣（1912年1月22日，并錢塘縣、仁和縣為杭縣）在喬司鎮南面區域設立鹽區。1953年，因喬司鎮翁中鄉全部及翁東、翁西鄉大部坍入錢塘江中，鹽區撤銷，鹽業生產隨之趨緩，直至停產。

回過頭來再說蘇東坡與湯村開運鹽河的關系。

北宋時湯村（喬司）的食鹽生產已具相當規模，外運靠牛車馬車運輸已不能滿足，朝廷決定改為水運，從湯村（喬司）開鑿一條河直達大運河，用來專門運送食鹽。北宋熙寧五年（1072）十月，身為杭州通判的蘇東坡承擔了“督開”湯村運鹽河的任務。其間，他寫了三首詩紀事。兩首詩是《是日宿水陸寺寄北山清順僧二首》，還有一首詩是《湯村開運鹽河雨中督役》。讀這三首詩，可以看到繁華背后的辛酸。

蘇東坡為什么夜宿水陸寺？辦事認真的蘇東坡，為了“督役”運鹽河工程，就近找了個地方過夜，免得杭州城里與湯村（喬司）來回跑費工夫，大約水陸寺是離湯村（喬司）比較近又適合夜宿的地方。

杭州現在仍然有一條巷叫水陸寺巷，巷名因寺名而起。水陸寺巷東起東清巷，西至新華路南段。宋代時名水陸寺巷、三營巷，明代稱全三營巷，清代又復稱水陸寺巷。這一帶吳越國時設大路營，宋代有第三指揮所（營）在那里，所以叫三營巷、全三營巷。

歷史上杭州有三個水陸寺：一在仁和城外，稱外水陸寺;一近望江門，稱上水陸寺;一在平安坊，稱下水陸寺。估計蘇東坡夜宿的水陸寺在仁和城外，即杭州北部。

我們現在來說說這三首詩。

先說《是日宿水陸寺寄北山清順僧二首》：

其一

草沒河堤雨暗村，寺藏修竹不知門。

拾薪煮藥憐僧病，掃地燒香凈客魂。

農事未休侵小雪，佛燈初上報黃昏。

年來漸識幽居味，思與高人對榻論。

其二

長嫌鐘鼓聒湖山，此境蕭條卻自然。

乞食繞村真為飽，無言對客本非禪。

披榛覓路沖泥入，洗足關門聽雨眠。

遙想后身窮賈島，夜寒應聳作詩肩。

清順，字頤然，杭州詩僧，蘇東坡與他有詩詞唱和，這兩首詩就是寄給清順的。前一首詩描寫水陸寺幽寂的環境，寺僧的平淡生活，字里行間透著清冷。后一首詩描寫了蘇東坡“督役”生活的清苦，“乞食繞村真為飽”是生活上的清苦，“無言對客本非禪”是精神上的清苦。蘇東坡與佛有緣，在各地都有僧友，喜歡談禪，如今冷落在水陸寺里只為夜宿，夜深人靜不由得思念在杭州的僧友，提筆寫兩首詩排遣一下郁悶的心情。

其實，蘇東坡之所以心情郁悶，不僅僅是夜宿水陸寺的孤獨，還因為開鑿運鹽河勞工的辛苦。

他寫給弟弟蘇轍的詩《湯村開運鹽河雨中督役》，就吐露了這種悲憫的心聲：

居官不任事，蕭散羨長卿。胡不歸去來，滯留愧淵明。鹽事星火急，誰能恤農耕。薨薨曉鼓動，萬指羅溝坑。天雨助官政，泫然淋衣纓。人如鴨與豬，投泥相濺驚。下馬荒堤上，四顧但湖泓。線路不容足，又與牛羊爭。歸田雖賤辱，豈失泥中行。寄語故山友，慎毋厭藜羹。

這首詩是開鑿運鹽河勞工辛苦勞作的寫實，“人如鴨與豬，投泥相濺驚”，只為了“鹽事星火急”，“誰能恤農耕”？面對這樣的場景，蘇東坡肯定心情很沉重，但官不由身，他能咋樣？心里的郁悶只能向親人傾訴。

蘇轍收到哥哥蘇東坡的《湯村開運鹽河雨中督役》，當即回了一首詩《和子瞻開湯村運鹽河雨中督役》：

興事常苦易，成事常苦難。不督雨中役，安知民力殫。年來上功勛，智者爭雕鉆。山河不自保，疏鑿非一端。譏訶西門豹，仁智未得完。方以勇自許，未恤眾口嘆。天心閔劬勞，雨涕為泛瀾。不知泥滓中，更益手足寒。誰謂邑中黔，鞭箠亦不寬。王事未可回，后土何由乾。

心意相通又手足情深的兩兄弟，只能互相安慰：“不督雨中役，安知民力殫。”

Su Dongpo’s Overnight

Stay at the Shuilu Temple

By Sima Yimin

In his two terms of office in Hangzhou — first between 1071 and 1074 as the assistant prefect and then between 1089 and 1091 as the prefect， Su Dongpo （aka Su Shi， 1037-1101） oversaw the dredging the West Lake， built the Su Causeway， and finished a host of projects that had improved the livelihood of local people. Of course， he also composed some of the most memorable poems in the history of Chinese poetry. When one reads Su’s verses on the West Lake now， perhaps one cannot help but think his life in Hangzhou was all gaiety and joy. But that perhaps is a gross misunderstanding， thanks to all the dazzling lines about the West Lake. Here are several poems by Su Shi that show another side of his life in Hangzhou.

The poems were all about one subject， the digging of a salt transportation canal in Tangcun. Before proceeding to the poetry， it is necessary to give a brief account of Tangcun.

Tangcun is in fact present-day Qiaosi in Hangzhou’s Yuhang district. Historical records from the Song dynasty （960-1279） to the Qing dynasty （1616-1911） have documented Tangcun. For example， according to Hangzhou Fuzhi， or the Gazetteer of Hangzhou Prefecture， published in 1686， “Qiansi township， formerly named Tangcun township， is located 59 li to the northeast of Renhe county [part of present-day Hangzhou city proper] and was once inundated by tides in 1413. In the early days of the Qing， a salt tax office was set up here.”

The establishment of such an office had a lot to do with the location of Tangcun （or Qiaosi）. Close to the Qiantang River and the tides of the Hangzhou Bay， the place was ideal for the production of salt. In the Northern Song period （960-1127）， salt was produced on quite a big scale in Tangcun， and transporting salt through oxen carts and horse wagons could no longer meet the demand. Therefore， the imperial court decided to transfer salt by water instead; a canal was thus built from Tangcun to the Grand Canal which was specifically used to for salt transport.

Coincidentally， Su was the one tasked to supervise its construction. In October 1072， he started out on his duties and it was during that period that he penned the aforementioned poems.

In “Two Poems Written While Staying the Night at the Shuilu Temple， and Sending Them to Monk Qingshun on the North Hill”， Su described the tranquility of the temple （“hidden in bamboo groves I can’t find its gate”）， his longing for a hermitlike life （“as I grow old， reclusive life I increasingly desire） in the first and the challenging conditions he faced executing his duties （“I beg around the village for food， just to fill up my belly”， “chopping down overgrown bushes， I seek path in muddy waters”） in the second.

Ever a conscientious official， Su stayed at the temple that night only because it was close to the canal they were constructing， which saved the hassle of traveling back and forth from the city center. And Qingshun the monk was one of the many Buddhist poets that Su had befriended.

But it was the hardship that the laborers digging the canal had to go through that truly upset Su and made him lament “who cares about these peasants and their livelihood？”， in another poem he wrote to his younger brother Su Zhe （1039-1112）， titled “Supervising the Construction of the Salt Canal in Rain at Tangcun”. A line of the verse reads， “they [the laborers] are like ducks and pigs， startled by the splash of mud water they dive in”; all these were just because “the salt business is a most urgent matter”. While commiserating with these laborers， Su could do little but follow the orders of the imperial court.

Perhaps a line in Su Zhe’s reply poem is able to best capture their mood， “not supervising the project in rain， you’d never know people in pain”.