姚亮

千百年來，江南在文人筆下，是“美”“詩意”的同義詞。

江南是杏花桃花相間開的江南，是煙雨惆悵的江南，是多情的江南。

江南人杰地靈、山青水秀，不僅以魚米之鄉(xiāng)、風(fēng)景秀麗著稱，重文也是傳統(tǒng)之一。

江南文化豐富多樣，底蘊(yùn)深厚。從白墻青瓦、小橋流水的經(jīng)典建筑風(fēng)格，到烏篷船、青花瓷、油紙傘，到龍井茶、紫砂壺……別有一派恬靜清新、溫婉內(nèi)秀的韻味。

那么在一代名家的眼里，江南是一幅幅怎樣圖畫呢？

一條河：人家盡枕河

晚唐詩人杜荀鶴在《送人游吳》中描述了當(dāng)年蘇州（姑蘇）的情景：君到姑蘇見，人家盡枕河。

“人家盡枕河”是江南城市和市鎮(zhèn)普遍的景觀。在江南小城鎮(zhèn)上，最常見的景觀便是市河，以及市河兩岸“枕河”的人家或店鋪。市河，也成了現(xiàn)代江南小城鎮(zhèn)文學(xué)中經(jīng)常出現(xiàn)的意象。

錢谷融先生在《〈江南味道〉序》中寫道：

江南是水鄉(xiāng)，到處溪澗縱橫，綠草如茵，景色十分清幽。水是流動(dòng)的，象征著江南人的活潑、富有生命力?？山系乃?，少有洶涌奔放的氣勢(shì)，只是長(zhǎng)年潺潺汩汩地流淌著，培育出江南人特有的溫和柔美的性情。

茅盾的散文《大旱》，講述的是大旱年頭一個(gè)小小鄉(xiāng)鎮(zhèn)里的故事，不過這個(gè)市鎮(zhèn)“有北方的二等縣城那么熱鬧”，卻又比北方的縣城來得“摩登”。當(dāng)然，最具特色的是市鎮(zhèn)上的市河：

鎮(zhèn)里人家要是前面靠街，那么，后面一定靠河;北方用吊桶到井里去打水，可是這個(gè)鄉(xiāng)鎮(zhèn)里的女人永遠(yuǎn)知道后房窗下就有水;這水，永遠(yuǎn)是毫不出聲地流著。半夜里你偶然醒來，會(huì)聽得窗外（假使你的臥室就是所謂靠河的后房）有咿咿啞啞的櫓聲，或者船娘們帶笑喊著“扳艄”，或者是竹篙子的鐵頭打在你臥房下邊的石腳上——錚的一響，可是你永遠(yuǎn)聽不到水自己的聲音。

江南人自古“以舟為車，以楫為馬”，船是主要的交通工具。市河自然是江南小城鎮(zhèn)上的“交通要道”。而且河水是“活”的，在緩緩流動(dòng)中，垃圾都沉淀了。

江南水鄉(xiāng)，從吳越國(guó)時(shí)期，就開始通過罱河泥來積肥料。市河中的淤泥，分解了更多的有機(jī)物，比普通的河泥肥沃，故四鄉(xiāng)的農(nóng)民樂于到市河里來罱河泥。像茅盾短篇小說《水澡行》的財(cái)喜等農(nóng)民，都是城鎮(zhèn)保潔的“義工”。

舊時(shí)江南水鄉(xiāng)人家，家家都有一口水缸。大清早市河里的水沒有受到污染，清澈甘冽。挑水的人一般都起個(gè)大早，把水缸里的水給挑滿。

郁達(dá)夫的故鄉(xiāng)富陽縣城，濱臨富春江。比起市河來，從富陽縣城眺望富春江，江景自然顯得開闊明麗。郁達(dá)夫的短篇小說《紙幣的跳躍》，描述主人公文樸回到故鄉(xiāng)老家，次日早晨醒來，憑窗看見熟悉的江景：

絕大的一輪旭日從東面江上濛濛地升了起來，江面上浮漾在那里的一江朝霧，減薄了幾分濃味。澄藍(lán)的天上疏疏落落，有幾處只淡灑著數(shù)方極薄的晴云，有的白得像新摘的棉花，有的微紅似美婦人臉上的醉酡的顏色。一縷寒風(fēng)，把江心的霧網(wǎng)吹開，白茫茫的水面，便露顯出三兩只葉樣的漁船來。朝陽照到，正在牽絲舉網(wǎng)的漁人的面色，更映射得赭黑鮮明，實(shí)證出了這一批水上居民在過著的健全的生活。

小說中的主人公文樸，是一位貧病交加的現(xiàn)代“寒士”。在外漂泊多年，不能衣錦還鄉(xiāng)，回到老家來可謂悲喜交集。不過老家的江景還是賞心悅目，富于詩情畫意。

四季花：只嫌春光短

江南水鄉(xiāng)，屬亞熱帶季風(fēng)氣候，四季分明。春夏秋冬，在小城鎮(zhèn)的花木意象中得到充分體現(xiàn)。

豐子愷在散文《辭緣緣堂》 中就回味了緣緣堂五年生活中的四季風(fēng)情：“春天，兩株重瓣桃戴了滿頭的花，在門前站崗。門內(nèi)朱樓映著粉墻，薔薇襯著綠葉。院中秋千亭亭地立著，檐下鐵馬丁東地響著。堂前燕子呢喃，窗內(nèi)有‘小語春風(fēng)弄剪刀的聲音。”“夏天，紅了櫻桃，綠了芭蕉，在堂前作成強(qiáng)烈的對(duì)比，向人暗示‘無常的幻相。葡萄棚上的新葉，把室中人物映成綠色的統(tǒng)調(diào)，添上一種畫意。垂簾外時(shí)見參差人影，秋千架上時(shí)聞笑語?！薄扒锾?，芭蕉的葉子高出墻外，又在堂前蓋造一個(gè)天然的綠幕。葡萄棚上果實(shí)累累，時(shí)有兒童在棚下的梯子上爬上爬下。夜來明月照高樓，樓下的水門汀映成一片湖光?！薄岸?，屋子里一天到晚曬著太陽，炭爐上時(shí)聞普洱茶香。坐在太陽旁邊吃冬舂米飯，吃到后來都要出汗解衣服。廊下曬著一堆芋頭，屋角里藏著兩甕新米酒，菜櫥里還有自制的臭豆腐干和霉千張?！?/p>

魯迅的回憶性散文《從百草園到三味書屋》，也寫到百草園和三味書屋后面的小院子里的四季花木：春天“肥胖的黃蜂伏在菜花上，輕捷的叫天子（云雀）忽然從草間直竄向云霄里去了”;初夏有“紫紅的桑椹”，盛夏有“鳴蟬在樹葉里長(zhǎng)吟”;秋天，“木蓮有蓮房一般的果實(shí)”，還有“油蛉在這里低唱，蟋蟀們?cè)谶@里彈琴”。冬天的百草園比較無趣，不過三味書屋后面的小院子里的臘梅盛開了，“可以爬上花壇去折臘梅花”。

徐志摩的小說《家德》寫了當(dāng)年徐家的幫傭家德。他中年時(shí)就來到徐家，一直做到了老。家德勤勞、博學(xué)，徐家后面那個(gè)“花園”一直由他操勞。他在這個(gè)花園里種菜，也種花木。初春有春梅和蘭花，陽春有桃花、李花和玫瑰，夏天有美人蕉、鳳仙花和碩大的雞冠花，秋天有蟹爪菊，冬天有臘梅和山茶花。月季更能開上大半年。小說中的家德簡(jiǎn)直就是種花專家，能給兒時(shí)的“我”講解各種花草的知識(shí)：“花的脾，花的胃，花的顏色，花的這樣那樣。梅花有單瓣、雙瓣，蘭有葷心、素心，山茶有家有野”。

朱自清祖籍紹興，但青少年時(shí)代生活在揚(yáng)州，故自稱是“揚(yáng)州人”。朱自清在散文《看花》中講述自己從小生長(zhǎng)在揚(yáng)州，揚(yáng)州人愛花，幾乎每家都有幾盆花。該文還寫到作者剛出大學(xué)校門時(shí)與俞平伯在杭州共事，冬天經(jīng)常去孤山放鶴亭賞梅，有一回還專門去靈峰寺探梅。日后兩人又在清華大學(xué)共事，春天兩人先后去中山公園欣賞海棠。與江南相比，北平春短，賞花要趕著時(shí)間去?！八f北平看花，是要趕著看的：春光太短了，又晴的日子多;今年算是有陰的日子了，但狂風(fēng)還是逃不了的。”相比較而言，四季分明的江南可以從容欣賞四季不同的花。

小鎮(zhèn)子：城門四面開

江南小城鎮(zhèn)上的市民，盡管在造橋、鋪路時(shí)采用石材，但在建造房屋時(shí)石材只作為輔材，房屋的主體是磚木結(jié)構(gòu)的。

城鎮(zhèn)上的市房，是要開門做生意的，磚木結(jié)構(gòu)的房子便于開門迎客，又便于分隔，開店住家都方便。魯迅的短篇小說《孔乙己》，開頭就描述了咸亨酒店的格局：

魯鎮(zhèn)的酒店的格局，是和別處不同的：都是當(dāng)街一個(gè)曲尺形的大柜臺(tái)，柜里面預(yù)備著熱水，可以隨時(shí)溫酒。做工的人，傍午傍晚散了工，每每花四文銅錢，買一碗酒，——這是二十多年前的事，現(xiàn)在每碗要漲到十文，——靠柜外站著，熱熱的喝了休息;倘肯多花一文，便可以買一碟鹽煮筍，或者茴香豆，做下酒物了。如果出到十幾文，那就能買一樣葷菜，但這些顧客，多是短衣幫，大抵沒有這樣闊綽。只有穿長(zhǎng)衫的，才踱進(jìn)店面隔壁的房子里，要酒要菜，慢慢地坐喝。

像咸亨酒店這樣的臨街店面，早上卸下排門板，就能開門迎客;晚上推上排門板，店里的掌柜和伙計(jì)就能關(guān)門睡覺。

茅盾的短篇小說《林家鋪?zhàn)印匪鶎懙牧旨译s貨店，是家連店的。當(dāng)街為店面，一對(duì)蝴蝶門后就是林老板家的“內(nèi)宅”。內(nèi)宅有樓上樓下兩層，樓上臥室，樓下廚房和吃飯間。

另外，小城鎮(zhèn)上還有一些前店后坊的手工作坊。如豐子愷的石門老家，有百年老店豐同裕印坊。當(dāng)街的惇德堂主要作染坊用，門前還要晾曬染好的布料，主人家住在后面幾進(jìn)的房子里，店里的伙計(jì)就住在店里。

明清至民國(guó)時(shí)，江南小城鎮(zhèn)上，一般人家住在臨街的房子里，而大戶人家則居住在相對(duì)安靜的深宅大院里。

茅盾的長(zhǎng)篇小說《霜葉紅似二月花》中，張恂如家在街面上有“源長(zhǎng)號(hào)”廣貨店，經(jīng)理宋顯庭和兒子宋少榮、學(xué)徒趙福林等就住在店里，張家另有豪華的住宅。小說描寫了張家府上有高大的“風(fēng)火墻”，是徽派建筑典型的“馬頭墻”。舊時(shí)磚木結(jié)構(gòu)的房屋容易引發(fā)火災(zāi)，而且一燒就是一大片房屋。高大的“風(fēng)火墻”，容易隔斷火災(zāi)，不至于鄰居失火殃及本宅。馬頭墻的“馬頭”，通常是“金印式”或“朝笏式”，顯示出主人對(duì)“讀書作官”這一理想的追求?！榜R頭”既是一種美觀的裝飾，同時(shí)也是一種官本位思想的圖騰。

江南潮濕，講究的人家臥室一般安排在樓上，這也是從新石器時(shí)代干欄式建筑傳承下來的。張府的二樓是“走馬樓”，即四周都有走廊可通行的樓屋，特別適合大戶人家居住。不過張府人丁不旺，只有張恂如一個(gè)男人。他大學(xué)畢業(yè)后賦閑在家，郁郁不得志，只能在家里作些小小的反抗。他對(duì)妻子有些討厭，就搬到三間平時(shí)堆放雜物的平房里去住。一般情況下，大戶人家的一樓平房是下人居住的。徐志摩的小說《家德》中徐家的幫傭家德就住在一樓。

徐遲的抗戰(zhàn)小說《一個(gè)鎮(zhèn)的輪廓》發(fā)表在陸丹林主編的《大風(fēng)》半月刊第76、77、78期，出版日期為1940年7月20日、8月5日、8月20日。該小說寫了近代絲商富豪云集的南潯鎮(zhèn)。綜述了那些精心構(gòu)筑的私家花園：

富紳沒有不是以絲起家的，小小一個(gè)鎮(zhèn)，有著十幾個(gè)上千萬，上百萬富翁。因此，鎮(zhèn)上有四五個(gè)花園，是文化的結(jié)晶：亭臺(tái)樓閣，花木掩映，詩，畫，碑帖，對(duì)聯(lián)掛滿。每年只有清明佳節(jié)日，開放游覽一天。到那天，滿園滿林是踏青人，鄉(xiāng)下人也穿上了漂亮新衣服來玩。

至于江南小城縣的形制，即建筑格局，往往是市鎮(zhèn)有四柵，小城縣有城墻乃至護(hù)城河。小城鎮(zhèn)主要的功能是交易，但也有防御功能。

郁達(dá)夫的短篇小說《盂蘭盆會(huì)》寫了在東山半山腰圓通庵回望不遠(yuǎn)處的縣城：

山腳下是一條曲折的石砌小道，向西是城河，雖則已經(jīng)枯了，但秋天的實(shí)實(shí)在在的一點(diǎn)蘆花淺水，卻比什么都來得有味兒。城河上架著一根石橋，經(jīng)過此橋，一直往西，可以直達(dá)到熱鬧的F市的中心。

在這里，富陽縣城的護(hù)城河以及石橋，很好地體現(xiàn)了縣城的功能。城河是護(hù)城的，體現(xiàn)了防御功能;石橋是通向縣城的，通過此橋可以到城里交易。

有些小城市只有城墻，沒有城河。施蟄存短篇小說《進(jìn)城》收入作者的第一個(gè)小說集《江干集》，于1923年自費(fèi)出版社。作者自謙為“青少年時(shí)代的描紅練習(xí)”。該小說就描寫了這種沒有護(hù)城河只有城墻的縣城。

江南水鄉(xiāng)，船只是主要的交通工具，故城門往往有旱門又有水門。周作人在1940年代專門寫了小品文《紹興城門》，介紹紹興的城門：

紹興城舊有九門，據(jù)尹幼蓮《地志述略》所舉俗稱如下，即東郭，都泗，昌安，西郭，偏門，南門，稽山，五云，雷門是也。前六門皆是水門，平時(shí)拜歲掃墓都曾走過，余乃是旱門，雷門早封閉，今只余地名羅門坂耳，五云俗呼作吳市門，茹三樵云即梅福故跡，稽山門則是至禹陵會(huì)稽山之要道，出入尤頻繁……此諸城門中最系懷念者為東郭，不但與祖居相近，時(shí)常出入，其地亦特僻靜，每當(dāng)黃昏時(shí)入城來，城樓半廢，墻上滿生薛荔，四望荒涼，城內(nèi)與城外如一，頗有詩味畫意，非南門等所能有也。昌安偏門等水門外別有旱門通行，南門獨(dú)否，出城者須趁渡船，官設(shè)不取資，東郭則沿城門有石墈，可以步行，出門即渡東橋，相傳第三洞下流水是神仙水，又為明末余武貞先生殉難處，唯后人都已不甚了了，只于大旱時(shí)至橋頭取水以供茶飯而已。

有了城墻和城門作為防御設(shè)施，到了晚上，城外的人很難進(jìn)城，城內(nèi)人也同樣不容易出城。魯迅的小說《阿Q正傳》，寫阿Q淪為小偷，由于合伙行竊時(shí)“正手”被人發(fā)現(xiàn)，在外應(yīng)接的阿Q嚇得趕緊跑，“連夜爬出城，逃回未莊來了”。魯迅描寫的“爬”，顯然是指翻爬城墻。

跟小城市相比，市鎮(zhèn)的防御系統(tǒng)就比較弱。市鎮(zhèn)是沒有城墻護(hù)衛(wèi)的交易場(chǎng)所。江南水鄉(xiāng)，強(qiáng)盜們一般是搖了船搶劫的。防御之法，是在進(jìn)入市鎮(zhèn)的市河口上設(shè)置柵欄，晚上關(guān)閉柵欄，防止強(qiáng)盜船只進(jìn)入。這就形成了“市柵”。像烏鎮(zhèn)那樣兩條市河成十字交差的市鎮(zhèn)，有東南西北四柵。

樊樹志指出，四柵，“是指鎮(zhèn)區(qū)市梢的邊界，一般都有柵門，猶如縣城的城門”。柵門分陸柵和水柵，陸柵設(shè)在街道的末端，在兩旁民房之間砌上圍墻，中間是一扇木制的柵欄門。水上柵欄門設(shè)在市梢的橋洞內(nèi)。陸柵和水柵，都是清晨開啟，晚上關(guān)閉，以保障鎮(zhèn)區(qū)街道、商店和居民的安全。

徐遲的小說《一個(gè)鎮(zhèn)的輪廓》，也寫了這個(gè)鎮(zhèn)“東南西北有四個(gè)柵，真有柵欄的，并不是名義上的存在的呢”。

（本文圖片提供：CFP）

For the past centuries， Jiangnan has presented an unparalleled beauty in Chinese poetry and prose. Some descriptions are so popular that whenever someone wants to describe Jiangnan they pop up： Jiangnan is where apricot and peach flowers bloom; Jiangnan is where people feel sentimental and somewhat lost when it drizzles and mists; Jiangnan is where romance happens. Jiangnan is famed for prosperity， history， culture， artists， scholars， poets.?

Rivers in Jiangnan

Du Xunhe， a poet （846-906） of the Tang Dynasty， wrote in a poem dedicated to a friend heading to Suzhou， a legendarily wealthy city in Jiangnan that there were so many rivers in Suzhou that residents there had a river by their pillows. It is true that in the past， towns and cities in Jiangnan were crisscrossed by rivers and boats were the major means for people to move around.

“Jiangnan is a world of waters. Creeks and rivers are everywhere. Grasses are as thick as carpets. The landscape is quiet and elegant. Waters are full of life， symbolizing the vigor and life of people in Jiangnan. The waters in Jiangnan rarely show an overwhelming momentum. They just flow dreamingly all the year round， giving birth to a tender temperament native to people in Jiangnan，” wrote Qian Gurong （1919-2017）， a theorist of literature and art， in a foreword to a book about Jiangnan.

， by Mao Dun （1896-1981） depicts a rural town in a year of droughts. The town is typical of Jiangnan. All the houses in the town have a street front and a river to the back of the low row of houses. Residents there can always hear noises made by boats passing by. They dont hear the sound of the river itself. Unlike their counterparts in the north who fetch water out of a well， the residents in the town get water from rivers.

In Jiangnan， boats used to be the main transportation means. A market river was always the mains street of a river town. In ancient times， rivers in Jiangnan were regularly dredged. The bottom mud dredged from rivers was used as a fertilizer for rice paddies and vegetable plots. Rural residents liked to dredge rivers in towns largely because these rivers had better bottom mud. Also in good old days in Jiangnan， each house had a large water vat. Residents got up early in the morning and fetched water from rivers.

In ， a short story penned by Yu Dafu （1896-1945）， a young man who fails to make a career and comes back to his home village by a river. The river portrayed in the short story is the Fuchun River zigzagging past the writers hometown Fuyang. “The giant sun rises in the east， dissipating the thick mist hanging low on the river. The blue sky is dotted with some thin clouds， whitish and pinkish. A cool breeze drives the mist away， revealing some fishing boats， which look like slender tree leaves. The morning sunlight on the faces of the fishermen shows that these people lead a healthy and complete life on the river.”

Trees and Flowers

Jiangnan is a paradise of flowers thanks to the four distinct seasons characterized by the subtropical monsoon climate.

Feng Zikai （1898-1975）， a cartoonist and essayist， wrote in an essay titled ?about the flowers and trees around the house in his five-year stay there. “In springtime， two peach trees bloom furiously＼ in front of the house. The roses bloom. In the summer， cherry trees and banana trees in the front garden present a sharp contrast in reds and greens. In the autumn， the banana trees are taller than the compound wall and form a huge screen in front of the house. The trellis is full of the grapevines， grapes hanging in clusters.”

Lu Xun （1881-1936） recalls roaming in gardens in his childhood years： “In springtime， fat bees sit on the vegetables. A lark darts into the clouds from the grass. In the early summer， the mulberry trees bear purple berries. In the hottest summer days， the cicadas sing incessantly in trees. In the cold days in January， wintersweet flowers are in the small garden behind the school house.”

Xu Zhimo （1897-1931）， a poet of modern times， wrote about a gardener named Jiade. He came to his family to work as a help when he was still a middle-aged man and he worked there until he was very old. The man took care of the garden in the back of the house， where he grew vegetables and planted trees. Xu Zhimo grew up there， learning a great deal about flowers， trees and vegetables from the man.

Zhu Ziqing （1898-1948） grew up in Yangzhou， a city just on the northern shore of the Yangtze River. He had his ancestral roots in Hangzhou. In an essay titled ， he wrote that the people in Yangzhou loved to keep flowers at home. In addition he wrote about outings he took with friends to watch flowers in Hangzhou and Beijing.

Architecture

In towns across ancient Jiangnan， stones were used to build roads and bridges. Houses were largely made of brick and wood. Many houses in river towns had a shop in the front. A structure of brick and wood was easy for opening the door wide to customers. Such a shop front had an old-styled door as wide as the shop front. The door was composed of wood boards that could be removed at the opening hour of business time and installed back to form a closed space inside at the end of business time. Some shop attendants lived in the shop. The back part or upstairs of the house could easily be used for the family to lead a private life.

In the Ming （1368-1644） and the Qing （1644-1911） and the years of the Republic of China （1911-1949）， most town people lived in street houses in Jiangnan. Only big families lived in a house within a large walled compound. And many houses were two-storied structures as the second floor stayed relatively dry in a wet ?climate in Jiangnan. In very primitive times， stilted houses were popular in present-day Zhejiang， as discovered by archaeologists.

Some river towns in Zhejiang had river fences for safety at night. A fence could be lowered into a river in the evening and elevated out of water in the morning. Such fences formed a security network and stopped anyone from entering or leaving a town at night. Take Wuzhen in northern Zhejiang for example. The town has two main rivers that crisscross the town. In the past， four river fences defended the town in four directions and kept brigands or thieves away at night. Some river towns had fences in streets. The fences worked as gates at night. Walled cities such as Hangzhou and Shaoxing in the past had both land gates and water gates.