湯顯祖與遂昌

中國明代偉大的戲劇家、文學家湯顯祖的《牡丹亭》，是一部婦孺皆知的不朽戲劇，數百年來盛演不衰，成為中國戲劇舞臺上優秀的保留劇目之一。不久前，由美籍華人著名作家白先勇總策劃、總制作的昆曲《牡丹亭》，在海內外巡演引起巨大反響。不過很多人也許還不知道，湯顯祖的《牡丹亭》始作于浙江省的遂昌縣。

陽春三月，我從北京來到浙西南深山區，拜訪了山川秀美的遂昌。在與眾多朋友交往中，一位溫文爾雅的中年人遞給我一張別致的名片：左邊是隱線繪就的垂柳亭臺，右邊的文字寫著“牡丹亭原創圣地 遂昌縣人民政府副縣長徐炳東”。

《牡丹亭》成了遂昌的名片，可見湯顯祖與遂昌淵源的深久。

位于遂昌縣城北，有座湯顯祖紀念館，是一座三進小院的古建筑。進得門來，映入眼簾的是草坪上的一塊毛澤東草書石碑，那是20世紀50年代毛澤東觀看《牡丹亭·游園驚夢》后即興寫下的一段曲詞：

原來姹紫嫣紅開遍，

似這般都付與斷井頹垣。

良辰美景奈何天，

賞心樂事誰家院！

朝飛暮卷，云霞翠軒；

雨絲風片，煙波畫船，

錦屏人忒看的這韶光賤！

毛澤東手書蒼勁飄逸，富有激情，足見《牡丹亭》對他印象之深。館內收藏陳列的湯顯祖史傳文詩頗豐，是研究湯顯祖的寶貴資源。

湯顯祖1550年生于江西臨川，歷任南京太常寺博士、詹事府主簿、禮部詞祭司主事等職，大概相當于現在的司局長之類。明代末年朝政腐敗，社會黑暗，萬歷十九年(1591年)湯顯祖因上章抨擊朝政，被貶到廣東雷州半島的徐聞當了一名編外典史。兩年后，朝廷迫于輿論壓力，將湯顯祖“量移”(落實政策)到浙江遂昌縣任知縣，在遂昌任上這5年，可以說是湯顯祖仕途上最輝煌、最重要的歲月。

遂昌那時叫“平昌”，山巒重疊，土地貧瘠，素有“九山半水半分田”之稱。湯顯祖從老家臨川出發，經衢州，過龍游，一葉扁舟溯溪而上。進了平昌只見萬山松壑，溪谷厄仄，城門只有門洞，沒有半截城垣，民間房舍破舊，一副蕭條景象。但畢竟“皇恩浩蕩”，湯顯祖能夠以七品小官的身份執掌實權施展自己的抱負，這便足可聊以自慰。

中國歷史上的“貶官”往往有兩個特點：一是體恤百姓，一是工于詩文。在遂昌的5年，湯顯祖推行“仁政惠民”的治縣方針，興教辦學，勸農耕作，懲治豪強，滅虎除害，受到老百姓的普遍愛戴。遂昌人最難忘的是湯顯祖的“除夕遣囚”、“縱囚觀燈”，就是除夕之夜讓獄中囚犯回家過年，與家人團聚；元宵節組織囚犯到城北河橋上觀花燈，體會“繞縣笙歌”的歡樂景象。

但是，明末政治腐敗到極致，小小縣令難有回天之力。湯顯祖目睹朝廷種種惡政，百姓苦不堪言，心里十分憤懣，遂于萬歷二十六年(1598年)棄官回到家鄉，1616年終于臨川。

湯顯祖在遂昌短短5年，與遂昌士民結下了深厚情誼。他棄官回鄉后，遂昌人經常到臨川探望湯顯祖，湯顯祖也不時書信問候遂昌士民。清康熙五十一年(1712 年)，為紀念湯顯祖，遂昌縣令繆之弼主持在縣城建“遺愛祠”，奉祀湯顯祖。現在“遺愛祠”門墻猶存，成為遂昌的省級愛國主義教育基地。

湯顯祖出生在封建書香門第，喜好詩文，尤其鐘情于戲曲。在遂昌期間，湯顯祖在政務閑暇之際，常常偕地方文人雅士游覽山水名勝，寫下了大量膾炙人口的詩文。從1587年到1601年十四年間，湯顯祖寫了四個劇本：《紫釵記》《還魂記》(又名《牡丹亭》)《南柯記》和《邯鄲記》，合稱《臨川四夢》。其中，始作于遂昌的《牡丹亭》，是湯顯祖的代表作。

湯顯祖的戲劇，核心是一個“情”字。他說：“人生而有情。思歡怒愁，感于幽微，流乎嘯歌，形諸動搖。或一往而盡，或積日而不能自休。”“世總為情，情生詩歌，而行于神。天下之聲音笑貌，大小生死，不出乎是。”因此，他的作品就是用獨特的思想深度和完美的藝術形式來歌頌這個“情”字。

《牡丹亭》正是淋漓盡致地抒發了天地之情、人鬼之情、人間至情，歌頌杜麗娘至死不渝地追求自由愛情，渴望個性解放的精神，對封建禮教進行了無情的抨擊。《牡丹亭》的故事源于一個話本《杜麗娘慕色還魂》，話本敘述了廣東南雄府尹杜寶之女麗娘，春日游園夢見與情人幽會，夢醒懨懨成病，傷情而亡，但她的靈魂不滅，與書生柳夢梅再度相會，最終還魂結為夫妻。湯顯祖不滿意其中的“慕色”動因，認為人能生而復死、死而復生，莫過于至性至情，因而創作了這個以情為魂的精美絕倫的劇本。

《牡丹亭》一問世，立即引起社會的強烈反響，成為青年男女百看不厭的作品。據傳，江西婁江女子俞二娘，酷嗜《牡丹亭》傳奇，蠅頭細字批注其側，幽思苦韻感其詞，結果惋憤而終。湯顯祖聽說此事，寫了《哭婁江女子二首》：“畫燭搖金閣，真珠泣繡窗。如何傷此曲，偏只在婁江?何自為情死，悲傷必有神。一時文字業，天下有心人。”杭州著名女伶商小玲扮演《牡丹亭》中杜麗娘，形神皆備。有一次演出《尋夢》一折，唱至“待打并香魂一片，陰雨梅天，守著個梅根相見”，哀慟不已，倒在臺上竟溘然而逝……

湯顯祖以其在戲劇文學上的偉大成就，被人們譽為“東方的莎士比亞”。湯翁與沙翁為同時代人。莎士比亞的故鄉小城斯特拉福特如今是世界名城，而對許多人來說，誕生《牡丹亭》的遂昌現在尚地處深山，識者不多。從欣賞文物、開發旅游來說，浙江遂昌實在是一個待開發的“金礦”。

Master Masterminded His Masterpiece in Suichang

By Zhou Yi

The Peony Pavilion， a timeless classic written by Tang Xianzu in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)， has been popular for hundreds of years in China. It has been among the repertoires of many troupes across the country. In contrast to the great fame of the play， little known is Suichang， a nondescript county in central Zhejiang Province. It was in Suichang that Tang Xianzu worked as county magistrate for five years and started writing the Peony Pavilion， one of the all-time best plays in China.

Tang Xianzu was born in 1550 in Linchuan， Jiangxi Province adjacent to Zhejiang on the west. He had been a high-ranking official for a while before he was demoted and exiled to the remote Hainan Island in 1591 to work as a clerk because of a few reports and proposals he submitted to the imperial government which criticized some of its practices and policies. Two years later he was partially rehabilitated and appointed to govern Suichang County in Zhejiang.

The five years in the county was probably the best years of his official career. Like many other demoted officials in the history， Tang was a good poet and writer and he cared about the people. During his five-year rule， he adopted policies and measures to promote farming and education， kept public order， and organized hunters to protect the county from prowling carnivores in the mountains. For the policies of benevolence he applied， the local people loved him.

However， the dynasty was suffering from throes of political corruption in its last years， which was too much for him. Tang resigned in 1598 and returned to his native place. He died in Linchuan in 1616.

Tang was a good poet and playwright. From 1587 to 1601， he wrote four plays， which were called Four Dreams of Linchuan. The Peony Pavilion， the best known， was started in Suichang.

The play is about a girl who falls in love with a young scholar in her dream when she is visiting in a garden. She suffers from her lovesickness and dies. She comes back from death and gets married with her young scholar. This masterpiece was adapted from a previous version. In the old play， driven by the lust， the girl came back to life. Tang thought the motivation was unworthy. So he rewrote the play to shift the focus to feeling. Tang's adaptation was a huge success and was very popular with young people. The poems in the play were so touching that a young actress died heartbroken on the stage in Hangzhou.

Some critics say that Tang is China's Shakespeare. In fact he was Shakespeare's contemporary. Early this year， Bai Xianyong， a celebrated Taiwanese novelist， produced The Peony Pavilion in Kunqu Opera on the mainland. It is the latest effort to revive both Kunqu opera and The Peony Pavilion.

In the 1950s Chairman Mao Zedong watched the play and， on the impulse of the moment， copied a poem from the play. Today， his calligraphy is on a stone stele standing on a lawn in the courtyard of the Tang Xianzu Memorial House in the capital seat of Suichang County.

When I was in Suichang， I met Xu Bingdong， deputy magistrate of the county. On his name card was such a description: Suichang: Birthplace of The Peony Pavilion.