康有為與西湖村姑聯(lián)姻佳話

西子湖畔一幢花木扶疏、綠樹掩映小樓里，慈祥、健康的康靜谷老太太坐在我對面的沙發(fā)上，跟我聊起了父母康有為和張光。她那記憶的閘門打開后，歷歷往事一齊浮上心頭……

“我外祖父家姓張，早年住在杭州西湖邊的棲霞嶺上，以后又搬到緊挨著西湖的茅家埠，媽媽和外婆因此就算是杭州茅家埠人了！我外婆是個船娘，常年累月蕩漾在西湖中，為許多有錢人劃船賞景。”

“我外婆船劃得可好哩，但我媽媽小翠倒沒劃過船，是個道地的農(nóng)家女，或者說是個西湖村姑吧！”

談起媽媽小翠和康有為相識結(jié)婚的事，她心中似乎有更多的話想傾吐：

康有為為了避難海外流亡了16年后，追捕他的風(fēng)聲逐漸淡落下去了，于是他便悄悄地潛回國內(nèi)，避居在杭州西湖邊一位朋友的汾陽別墅里。一日，康有為坐船去杭州城里辦事，當(dāng)他坐船沿湖岸緩緩行進(jìn)到鳳林寺前時，抬頭猛然看見湖埠頭有個洗衣女子高挽著衣袖正在擰干衣裳往竹籃里裝。船工認(rèn)得這女子，便對康有為夸贊說：這位女子青春靚麗，品格又好，于是引起了康有為的愛慕。日后他便請人一次次提親，這就是后來成為康有為太太的西湖村姑張光。

康有為1858年3月19日誕生于廣東南海縣蘇村一個書香門第，祖上幾代為官。康有為自幼天資聰穎，九歲時他手書一聯(lián)：“大翼垂天四百里，長松拔地三千年”，令四鄰驚咤；16歲時的一次作文考試，康有為一口氣寫了6篇。經(jīng)密封考生姓名后送去評選，結(jié)果被選出的15篇優(yōu)秀作文，他一個人便占了6篇，而1至3名均為他所作。他能文喜書、工詩善畫，也精于棋藝。他厭倦八股文，以自己的興趣讀經(jīng)、讀史看閑書，還涉獵各種西方著作，開拓視野。此外，他還從事算學(xué)、天文、歷法、經(jīng)學(xué)的研究，興趣涉及政治、哲學(xué)、經(jīng)濟(jì)、歷史、地理、物理、聲學(xué)、光學(xué)、化學(xué)、電學(xué)、天文等學(xué)科。西學(xué)吸引了他，也影響了他，使他成為一個由封建士大夫向資產(chǎn)階級蛻變的代表人物。康有為一生事跡可謂人所共知，他所寫的集中攻擊封建正統(tǒng)的經(jīng)典《孔子改制考》出刊后，朝廷當(dāng)即下令毀版，1900年又遭查禁。他一生交游朋友多，磨難多，娶妻也多。元配張?jiān)浦槭羌依锒ㄏ碌模Y(jié)婚20載無子，于是母親作主娶了第二夫人梁隨覺；1907年康有為流亡美國，他的演說深深吸引了在美國出生的廣東姑娘何旃理，經(jīng)朋友介紹相識，何旃理成為他的第三位夫人，不幸于1914年患病去世；康有為流亡日本時，神戶少女市岡鶴子做了他的第四位夫人，此外康有為還有第五夫人，名叫廖定徵，第六位夫人才是西湖村姑張光，那是康有為結(jié)束16年流亡生活后，晚年在杭州西湖尋覓到的佳偶。

康有為在杭州和村姑張光結(jié)婚后，每當(dāng)飯后茶余，他便和太太（就是我媽媽）傍湖而坐，夕陽余輝中他對太太笑講孔夫子，引得兩人哈哈大笑。

“你媽媽知不知道你父親是朝廷通緝的欽犯呢？”我問。“知道。媽媽開頭是只曉得一點(diǎn)，越往后愈清楚。不過她才不在乎什么欽犯不欽犯，自己的丈夫嘛！她愛父親，保護(hù)父親。”是啊，康有為目睹中國被列強(qiáng)入侵，戰(zhàn)火頻仍，國家貧弱，民生艱難，毅然于1888年到1898年之間7次上書皇帝言改革，提出了修鐵路、鑄鈔幣、開礦產(chǎn)、折南漕、減兵員、開郵政、練陸軍、整海軍、造機(jī)器、立學(xué)堂、整厘金、核關(guān)稅、稽荒田、汰冗員，并要求召開國會實(shí)行立憲、限制君權(quán)等等，他還召集1300多名舉人集會，聯(lián)名向皇帝上書請?jiān)福Z轟烈烈地演出了一出“公車上書”歷史大戰(zhàn)。

這一下終于給康有為帶來殺身之禍。西太后通令對康“滅族緝殺”，下令京津火車停開，命幾千清兵將京城的海南會館翻了個個，把京城搜了個遍，還把康有為家的祖墳刨掉。

“這時我父親正在開往上海的英國人的船‘重慶’號上。慈禧命‘飛鷹’號出海追趕，幸運(yùn)的是‘飛鷹’追了一半路程，因燃料不足只得返回。當(dāng)‘重慶’號將抵達(dá)上海時，西太后密令上海道臺在碼頭布下天羅地網(wǎng)，準(zhǔn)備上船搜捕，此時，英國人布蘭德仗義救人，他乘英國駁船到達(dá)吳淞口，攔住了‘重慶’號，將父親悄悄地接走。‘重慶’號到了上海碼頭，道臺搜捕終于撲了個空。”康靜谷笑著說，“媽媽后來對我講，父親11次面臨險境而未死，后來父親逃到境外，朝廷竟然買下了父親鄰居的住房，挖了地道通到父親臥室并埋好炸藥，想要炸死父親。幸虧父親提前搬家了。你說，是不是我父親命不該絕呀！”

著名篆刻家、畫家吳昌碩為朋友康有為刻了枚一寸見方的印章：“維新百日，出亡十六年，游遍四洲，經(jīng)卅一國，行六十萬里路。”是的，我父親4渡太平洋、9渡大西洋、8經(jīng)印度洋、泛舟北冰洋，他是近代中國到過世界各地最多、接觸各國人物最廣的一位人物，他感受到外面的世界很精彩，當(dāng)時的英法等資本主義國家明顯優(yōu)越于中國這個經(jīng)歷數(shù)千年而不變的封建社會。

我笑著問：“你們康家還有一位也老是出洋，只不過你父親出洋為避難，她可是自己喜歡往外跑。”“唔，這是我二姐康同璧吧？”康靜谷見我提到她二姐很是自豪：“二姐康同璧畢業(yè)于美國哈佛大學(xué)及加林甫大學(xué)，解放后當(dāng)過全國政協(xié)委員。當(dāng)年19歲時，為尋父親她單身出潼關(guān)、過蘭州、經(jīng)河西走廊翻越帕米爾到了印度。二姐曾寫詩‘若論女士西游者，我是支那第一人’。在一次全國會議上，毛澤東主席還特地走到她面前與她握手說‘你是支那第一人呀’。”

“我二姐能詩會畫，英文好，都說她是康有為最有才氣的女兒。她的身上也流淌著父親樂于助人，敢于助人的血液。在‘文革’年代，盡管她自己遭受毆打又被抄了家，可二姐兩次擔(dān)著極大的風(fēng)險幫助了同是落難的朋友。這與我父親竭力幫助貧困生徐悲鴻獲得赴法官費(fèi)留學(xué)名額的義舉是一脈相承的。”

“晚年父親娶了媽媽，住在杭州西湖邊，這是他16年顛沛流亡生涯后，心靈創(chuàng)傷得到撫慰的最好的時刻。”康靜谷很深情地說，付出畢生艱辛的偉大失敗者，在這里得到了人生最后的一點(diǎn)快樂。康有為由此寫下對西湖的贊聯(lián)：“島中有島，湖外有湖，通以三折畫橋，覽沿堤老樹，十頃荷花，食莼菜香，如此園林，四洲游遍未嘗見；霸業(yè)硝煙，禪心止水，閱盡千年陳跡，當(dāng)朝暉暮靄，春煦秋蔭，飲山水綠，坐忘人間，萬方同慨更何之。”

“我父母住在西湖邊‘一天園’生活十分安逸：清晨在園內(nèi)花卉樹木叢中散步，傍晚倚坐于湖邊看落霞。喜好和關(guān)注物理、化學(xué)等自然科學(xué)的父親，弄到了一臺顯微鏡，他在書里寫道：‘因顯微鏡之萬數(shù)千倍者，視虱如輪，見蟻如象，而悟大小齊同之理；因電機(jī)光線一秒數(shù)十萬里，而悟久速齊同之理’。”

“父親放一粒粟在鏡頭下讓媽媽瞧，媽媽大吃一驚，雙手合十，喃喃而語：‘阿彌陀佛，這是什么呀’父親說‘世間萬物大小都是相對的，大中之外尚有大，小中之內(nèi)尚有小，剖一而無盡，吹萬而不同。’當(dāng)然他的話，媽媽是似懂非懂的。”

“我父親要娶媽媽，外婆先是不肯，后來媽媽說過一句話：‘以后讓我讀書我就同意。’后來父親終于在上海錦江飯店辦了盛大婚宴。父親找了媽媽是幸運(yùn)的，結(jié)婚后兩人感情彌篤，媽媽始終伴隨著父親從沒離開過半步。”

“他倆的婚姻，當(dāng)時上海報紙都作了報道。在上海寓所，常有官商大賈、達(dá)官貴人以及文人墨客來訪。父親喜歡下館子，他常帶著媽媽在杭州、上海的有名飯店品嘗美味佳肴。一日，父親攜媽媽坐船到清波門埠上岸，經(jīng)中山路走進(jìn)清河坊，看見酒肆‘和樂樓’，便登梯而上。酒樓裝飾考究，亦頗雅潔，并立有素屏，父親細(xì)看，上面竟寫著他的憂國憂民之言，不禁一笑。父親要了雪泡梅花酒。酒熱之后，什么玉面貍、糟羊肉、生爆鱔片、龍井蝦仁等一一端上，此時，樓下堂閣里飄來清歌妙曲，窗外唱戲的、叫賣的、算命看相的川流不息，熱鬧非凡，這讓父親感慨不已，他覺得杭州可是個好地方哪！”

“媽媽不識字，她總是惦著讀書，后來家里給她請了家庭老師，父親還親自教媽媽書法。后來媽媽不僅識了字，還學(xué)著做詩呢！”

“你是怎么知道的呀？”我頗感興趣地問。“那是后來聽媽媽講的。媽媽本來名叫張小翠，后來父親為媽媽改名張光，取字明漪。寓意是西湖水透明清澈，澄波漪漣汶漾吧！爸媽結(jié)婚后住在西湖邊朋友的汾陽別墅（即今日之郭莊）。一年后在附近丁家山建成‘一天園’，那里能俯瞰西湖，足以清心悅目。他們常爬上閣樓或登上坡頂眺望西湖山水，欣賞美景。‘一天園’園子很大，占地30多畝，四年建成，有橋廊、池塘、茅亭、假山、紫藤棚、葡萄架等等，花園里還種有櫻花、紅梅、菊花，植有眾多玫瑰，盛開時漫天錦繡，十分燦爛。信佛的媽媽還想在園里建個庵，后來他倆去了青島，父親便逝世在那里，結(jié)果‘一天園’沒多久就被沒收。作為書法大家的父親，書法格調(diào)或渾厚雄健、或?yàn)t灑奔放、或飄逸靈動、或拙中見巧，他給媽媽留有很多楹聯(lián)、條幅，囑他百年后可變賣作生活資費(fèi)。”

“父親死后我和媽媽搬到杭州城里一條陋巷里居住，孤兒寡母，日子過得很艱難。”父親死時囑咐媽媽日后應(yīng)該改嫁，因?yàn)閶屵€年輕，可是媽媽對父親感情很深，她想從一而終。”

“日本侵華戰(zhàn)爭時我還小，但有些事我還是記得的。我們逃難到江蘇丹陽，我是坐獨(dú)輪車和人挑的籮筐逃難的，有一次我們躲在尼姑庵里時，日本兵和偽軍追上來了，把7歲的我綁在柱子上，媽媽幸虧躲在暗角里的一塊大石頭后面沒被發(fā)現(xiàn)。他們哇啦哇啦吼了幾聲，搶完東西就走了。”

“父親去世后我隨媽媽過了18年。媽媽聰慧勤勉，開了個小藥店度日。我讀的杭州女子高級中學(xué)當(dāng)時在杭州金雞嶺附近。后來我學(xué)醫(yī)，在醫(yī)院里一直干到退休。”

康靜谷說到這里，返回里屋取來父母的照片讓我看：張光個頭中等，臉龐秀氣，康靜谷笑著說：“村里人都夸我媽脾氣豪爽，樂善好施。我媽是1945年離開我們的，喪事很隆重，我捧著媽媽的照片走在隊(duì)伍的最前面，棺木前面是花圈，后面也是花圈。從家里走到西湖邊的凈寺后，棺材放在寺院東南角的南庫房。媽媽后來葬在丁家山，墳早就沒有了，‘一天園’也早湮沒了。”

康有為與張光的這段西湖佳話，已在康靜谷心中塵封了半個多世紀(jì)，康靜谷老人將它深深地埋在心底，緘口不言，如今躬逢盛世，乾坤扭轉(zhuǎn)，她才敢對筆者吐露心聲。靜谷老人淡泊寧靜，機(jī)智聰慧，當(dāng)然也是無奈地默默在杭州這塊土地上從醫(yī)數(shù)十年，如果這段塵封的歷史當(dāng)年披露于世，作為康有為的女兒，一定會在劫難逃，不知會遭受多大磨難。

Marriage between Scholar and Village Girl

Wen Xing

The Editor’s note: Kang Jinggu is old now. She lives in a house by the West Lake. Here she talks about her father Kang Youwei and her mother Zhang Guang to us. Cultural Dialogue is honored to publish the story told by the daughter of the great scholar and the village girl.

The surname of Kang Jinggu’s maternal ancestors was Zhang. Her maternal grandmother was a boat woman on the West Lake. The family lived at the foot of the Qixia Hill just a stone’s throw from the Lake and later the family moved to the Mao Family’s Pier (Maojiabu)， much closer to the lake.

Kang Youwei (1858-1927) returned to China 16 years after he was wanted by the Qing government. He stealthily came to Hangzhou and lived at a villa by the lake outside the walled city of Hangzhou. One day， the scholar took a boat trip across the lake to the city. As the boat was passing the Fenglin Temple， Kang saw a village girl on the waterfront， her leaves upturned， putting the washed laundry into a bamboo basket. The boat man knew the girl and spoke highly of her virtue and beauty. Kang fell in love there and then. Later he asked a middleman to propose a marriage several times before the Zhang family finally agreed to the proposal.

Kang was born in a family of scholars and officials in Guangdong on March 19， 1858. He was a great scholar in both Chinese classics and western subjects. There are stories about his brilliant scholarship. But Kang is best known for his significant role in the Hundred-Day Reform (1898). Between 1888 and 1898 he submitted seven written appeals to the emperor， calling for bold modernization reforms. In 1895， Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao organized 1，300 provincial graduates， waiting in the capital for the results of that year’s palace exam held in the spring， to appeal to the emperor for reforms.

After the Hundred-Day Reform was killed off abruptly in a coup by the Dowager Cixi in September 1898， the government ordered to have Kang and his family executed. The railway operation between Beijing and Tianjin was stopped to prevent Kang from fleeing the capital and soldiers searched the Hainan House in Beijing for Kang. When learning that Kang was already on an English ship sailing southward to Shanghai， the Dowager sent a warship to chase. But the chase aborted because of fuel shortage. Then the governor in Shanghai was ordered to catch Kang at the dock in Shanghai as soon as the scholar arrived. Intercepted by an Englishman on a barge before the ship entered the mouth of the Yangtze River from the sea， Kang was safely taken away by the foreigners.

Kang Jinggu said her mother told her that her father escaped 11 assassinations organized by the Qing government. Though he was in exile in foreign countries， the Qing government never gave up the attempt to have him killed. Once， the secret agents bought the house next door to the house where her father was staying. The agents dug a tunnel to the house and put a lot of explosives there. But Kang moved away before the agents were ready to detonate the explosive.

Kang Jinggu said that her grandmother at first did not agree to let Zhang Guang marry Kang. But then Zhang Guang said that if she was allowed to learn to read and write， she would agree to marry Kang. The Zhang family at last agreed to the proposal. The wedding was held in Shanghai on a grand scale and attended by a lot of social celebrities. After the wedding， Kang and his wife continued to live at the Fenyang Villa (today’s the Guo Villa by the West Lake) for a while. Later they had a villa built at the Ding Family’s Hill (Dingjiashan) and moved to the villa. Kang and Zhang later moved to Qingdao in Shandong Province. After Kang Youwei passed away in Qingdao， the mother and daughter moved back to Hangzhou.

Zhang Guang was illiterate in her early years. Kang Youwei employed a teacher to teach his wife to read and write. Kang taught his wife how to write calligraphy with a brush pen. Zhang Guang later even learned to write poems.

An established calligrapher of national renown， Kang left many calligraphic masterpieces to his wife， saying that these couplets could be sold for cash to pay for household expenditures.

Kang Youwei suggested Zhang Guang could marry again after his demise. But Zhang Guang stayed a widow. Shortly after Kang Youwei passed away， the villa at Dingjiashan was confiscated by the government. Zhang Guang and her daughter Kang Jinggu lived in a house in a backstreet in downtown. Kang’s mother ran a small drugstore. She passed away in 1945.

Kang Jinggu attended the funeral， which was conducted at the Jingci Temple. Her mother was buried at Dingjiashan. Today， the tomb is gone and the villa is gone too.

Kang Jinggu has kept the secret that she is the daughter of Kang Youwei and Zhang Guang for more than half a century. She was a doctor before she retired. Just imagine how she would have suffered during the cultural revolution (1966-1976) had her life story been known to other people. In her evening years， she dares to tell her story for the first time. She has nothing to fear now.

(Translated by David)