班春勸農(nóng)：更與春花插幾枝

洪俆

人類非遺代表作“二十四節(jié)氣”之二

“今日班春也不遲，瑞牛山色雨晴時。

迎門競帶春鞭去，更與春花插幾枝?！?/p>

400多年前，時任遂昌縣知縣湯顯祖不曾想到，他主政期間寫下的“班春”詩，如今仍然廣為頌讀；他更不曾想到，2016年11月30日，中國申報的“二十四節(jié)氣”被聯(lián)合國教科文組織列入人類非物質(zhì)文化遺產(chǎn)代表作名錄，而遂昌縣石煉鎮(zhèn)淤溪村的“班春勸農(nóng)”活動作為了“立春”習(xí)俗文化的展衍部分。

丁酉（2017）春上陰雨初霽、山色明媚的一日，筆者在遂昌縣文體協(xié)會周喜玉和非遺保護中心巫蘇燕的陪同下，去“班春勸農(nóng)”活動所在地感受領(lǐng)略，探訪故事。

班春，頒布春令；勸農(nóng)，策勵春耕。它受影響于先秦民間的“祭春”習(xí)俗，漢代時，作為官府的一項政策性活動，由地方行政長官主持；后來，或有斷續(xù)。明清期間，各地大都在每年立春前后舉行這一活動。浙江中西部一帶、包括遂昌，往往于“立春先一日，官府迎春于東郊，祭芒神，鞭土牛，民乃興事”（《康熙遂昌縣志》）。

遂昌，民風(fēng)淳厚，遺風(fēng)流韻。清人詩云：“國惟民食重，俯仰望田疇。麥秀高分穗，蒿平綠刺眸。惰勤原有別，憂樂適相酬。慰勞興東作，輕騎月一鉤?！保娭觥洞航紕褶r(nóng)》）乾隆年間，“班春勸農(nóng)”活動演變成民眾踴躍參與的群體活動，一直延續(xù)到宣統(tǒng)二年（1910）。

民國以來，遂昌的“祭春”有所嬗變：立春日，家家戶戶自采梅花，或插于門上、引入春風(fēng)，或置于花瓶、供以清香，既表示繼承農(nóng)耕傳統(tǒng)，又不失耕讀傳家的風(fēng)雅。

20世紀(jì)80年代，遂昌恢復(fù)了民間群體性“祭春”儀式，影響播揚。丁酉（2017）的遂昌“班春勸農(nóng)”活動，于立春日之后的新年正月元宵節(jié)、即2月11日上演。

“在石練鎮(zhèn)淤溪村，百姓依古禮祭拜神農(nóng)、趕牛犁田，再現(xiàn)古代農(nóng)耕景象，傳承文化習(xí)俗。這場盛典，中央電視臺‘新聞直播間欄目進行了現(xiàn)場直播。”巫蘇燕提起話題依舊興奮。

我們來到淤溪村，村口有七八株至少七八百年以上的樟樹，樹桿斑駁，附著片片青苔，但枝葉依舊蒼翠，陰翳廣大?！鞍啻簞褶r(nóng)”廣場就傍著這些樹。

立在廣場四望，周圍有層山、嵐煙、茶園，有牛背、鷺影、水田，風(fēng)景平和優(yōu)美。周喜玉介紹，遂昌縣的非遺項目中，一個“昆曲十番”，一個“班春勸農(nóng)”，都在這個村子，先后在2008年、2011年入列國家級非遺名錄。“淤溪村‘班春勸農(nóng)的發(fā)端與傳承要歸功于湯顯祖?！?/p>

明萬歷二十一年（1593），湯顯祖由貶謫之身廣東徐聞典吏“量移”浙江遂昌知縣。在此五年期間，他為了實現(xiàn)興農(nóng)富民的理想，力行勸農(nóng)務(wù)本措施：一是修建啟明樓，每天準(zhǔn)時撞鐘，催人晨興作業(yè)；二是開張相圃學(xué)堂，教學(xué)農(nóng)耕農(nóng)藝；三是立春時節(jié)親臨現(xiàn)場“班春勸農(nóng)”。

周喜玉說，遂昌縣素有良好的農(nóng)耕文化傳承。立春時節(jié)，“布谷”劃過，又到一年農(nóng)耕的準(zhǔn)備期。陰陰晴晴的東郊西郊，煙煙雨雨的南鄉(xiāng)北鄉(xiāng)，湯顯祖通過走訪，選定具有典型意義的產(chǎn)糧田畈，制備花酒、春鞭、耒耜，精選壯牛，派衙役讓各鄉(xiāng)里組織人員，在“班春勸農(nóng)”這天到現(xiàn)場參加觀禮?！靶踊ㄝp淺訟庭閑，零雨疏風(fēng)一往還。新歲班春向誰手，許卿耕破瑞牛山?！保@祖《初至平昌（遂昌）與蘇生說耕讀事》）后來，湯顯祖把“班春勸農(nóng)”一事寫入他四夢之中“得意處”的《牡丹亭》，流芳后世。

據(jù)說，遂昌舉行“班春勸農(nóng)”，湯顯祖為首次。此后，這一官民同樂的農(nóng)耕禮儀，成為了遂昌的傳統(tǒng)迎春文化形式。

400年前的鄉(xiāng)村農(nóng)耕景象是怎樣的？今天恐怕很難為人詳知。根據(jù)《牡丹亭·勸農(nóng)》的描述，參考史志縣志的記載，遂昌恢復(fù)了當(dāng)年的盛典——

“班春勸農(nóng)”那一天，廣場上旗幡招展，鼓樂震天；祭壇正中巍然矗立的神農(nóng)像前，香煙繚繞；代表各鄉(xiāng)里的方陣一一就位，祭春、鞭春、開春三部曲循序展開。

禮儀開始，身穿明代服飾的迎春隊伍高擎起“班春勸農(nóng)”“風(fēng)調(diào)雨順”“五谷豐登”的旗幟。主祭、司儀以及春牛、供品，在鼓樂、旗幡的簇?fù)硐?，在舞蹈、茶燈、花酒等禮儀方陣的伴隨中入場。司儀主持，人們向神農(nóng)獻(xiàn)上供品。主祭率領(lǐng)參祭的鄉(xiāng)里代表向神農(nóng)和春神行禮，接著，點高香，誦祭文，頒春令。

在亢奮的春令聲中，代表人舉起春鞭揮向春牛，鞭影綻處，五谷良種源源不斷地溢出，被一一分發(fā)，以預(yù)示取得美好的收獲，表達(dá)年豐人喜、國泰民安的愿望。婺劇、越劇、昆曲十番，眾人的歡呼聲飄上蒼空……

我們折入粉墻黛瓦的淤溪村，這是一個有千余年歷史的村子。家家門前有條石，上面擺著泥盆之類，種著花草之屬，顯出悠閑與優(yōu)雅。是采茶的季節(jié)，村里很安靜，唯有彎環(huán)流下的小溪水泠泠作響。在文化禮堂，我們和幾位老人聊“班春勸農(nóng)”。

“‘班春是大喜慶，大喜慶。”

“‘班春熱鬧，比過年熱鬧?！?/p>

“正月里高興，高興在臘月里做準(zhǔn)備；‘班春高興，高興在前面一個月做排演?！?/p>

老人回憶，淤溪村和附近村子的幾百名農(nóng)民演員白天各忙農(nóng)活，晚上飯碗一放就趕來廣場排練春牛舞、茶燈舞、春鞭舞，一片鑼鼓聲、音樂聲、歡笑聲，“有文化！有文化！”

筆者想起此行之前，遂昌縣非遺保護中心主任尹萍特別強調(diào)，這次參與“班春勸農(nóng)”儀式演出的演員全都是周邊村莊的村民，演出的節(jié)目都是自編自演，是真正接地氣的傳統(tǒng)、傳承與發(fā)展。

湯顯祖這位了不起的劇作家給遂昌留下了寶貴的文化遺產(chǎn)，“班春勸農(nóng)”是特色濃郁的美麗非遺活動。活動繼承了中華文明，也增添了不少民間文娛節(jié)目。

回到縣城，日頭正麗。遂昌縣文化局局長邱根松說：“廣大百姓對‘班春勸農(nóng)的熱情，源于對湯顯祖的尊重與紀(jì)念，源于對傳統(tǒng)農(nóng)耕文化的敬畏與保護。土生土長的農(nóng)民演員主導(dǎo)這場盛大的典禮，傳遞了百姓的文化自覺和文化自信，凸顯了遂昌縣多年來重視非遺傳承保護、打響文化品牌所作的努力。”

（除署名外，本文照片由遂昌縣非遺保護中心提供）

Farming Encouraging Ceremony in Suichang Marks Beginning of Spring

By Hong Xu

More than 400 years ago， Tang Xianzu wrote and other plays in Suichang， a remote rural county in the mountains of the southwest of Zhejiang. As the county magistrate from 1593 to 1598， he governed wisely while play writing was one of his pastimes. One of the big things he did in Suichang was to promote farming. According to history， Tang planned carefully. He handpicked the best venue for the ceremony. He prepared tools and cattle， whips and wine. He also sent government officials to towns and villages， urging them to send people to attend the ceremony.

The spring ceremony encouraged local residents to get ready to start the farming season. He wrote poems about the ceremony held one day before the Beginning of Spring， which usually falls on February 3 or 4 on the Gregorian calendar. One of the poems was included in the script of . That is how people of today have learned about the governors springtime farming-promoting ceremony.

The ceremony， once lost in history， has made its comeback in Yuxi Village. The village was one of the ten places across the country that still celebrate various solar terms， one hallmark of the agricultural China for thousand years. Chinas 24 solar terms were added to the World Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in November 2016.

Agriculture promoting can be traced to early centuries before the Qin Dynasty （221-207BC）. In the Han Dynasty （202BC-220AD）， the spring ceremony was held to offer sacrifices to the God of Spring and mark the beginning of farming season. The ceremony became a must as stipulated by the central government and regional governors were tasked to host the ceremony. The ceremony went on and off in history. In the Ming （1368-1644） and the Qing （1644-1911）， the tradition came back. In the central west of Zhejiang， the ceremony was annually held one day before the Beginning of Spring.

During the years of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty who ruled from 1736 to 1795， the official ceremony in Suichang became more recreational. Villagers participated enthusiastically， bringing village arts into the event. In the decades following the collapse of the Qing Dynasty in 1911， the spring ceremony changed in Suichang. On the Beginning of Spring day， people picked plum blossoms. Some were placed on doors and some were placed in vases to mark the agricultural tradition.

The spring ceremony in Suichang was resumed in the 1980s. After studying the county annals written centuries ago， local scholars and government officials and folk artists successfully restored the ceremony.

The village square of Yuxi， which is more than 1，000 years old， is the venue of the ceremony. Hundreds of local residents from Yuxi and neighboring villages take part in the performance of the ceremony. Before the big day， locals work during the day and rehearse in the evening.

The ceremony consists of three parts. The first part is dedicated to the offering of sacrifices to the God of Spring and the God of Farming. The second part is the whip ceremony. Performers dance with cattle whips symbolizing the plowing before the sowing. The third part is entertainment. Village artists give shows of regional operas.

The ceremony was inscribed as a national intangible cultural heritage in 2008.