范仲淹與林和靖的故事

司馬一民

宋仁宗皇祐元年（1049年）正月，范仲淹由鄧州知州移任杭州知州，這一年他已經六十一歲了。他去西湖孤山拜祭以“梅妻鶴子”著稱于士林的林和靖（林逋），此時林和靖也已作古二十一年。在林和靖的墓前佇立良久，范仲淹自然而然會想起曾經兩度拜訪林和靖的情形。

天圣四年（1026年）春，范仲淹在興化知縣任上有一次兩浙之行，在杭州，他特地和朋友一起去孤山拜訪林和靖，那是他們第一次見面，他有《和沈書記同訪林處士》一詩紀事：

山中宰相下崖扃，靜接游人笑傲行。

碧嶂淺深驕晚翠，白云舒卷看春晴。

煙潭共愛魚方樂，樵爨誰欺雁不鳴。

莫道隱君同德少，樽前長揖圣賢清。

“崖扃”本指山門，詩里指林和靖孤山的住處。“樵爨”，打柴燒飯的人。“山中宰相”，是典故。梁朝陶弘景，有才，謝絕為官，梁武帝每遇大事就去陶弘景隱居的茅山求教。陶弘景雖然不是在朝的宰相，又像宰相那樣給梁武帝出主意，只不過住在山里，這就是“山中宰相”的典故。詩歌里說“山中宰相”，當然指林和靖，可見他們談論了天下大勢，而且范仲淹對林和靖的“世事洞明”非常欽佩，不然就不會用“山中宰相”的典故。

這首詩的大意為：有大智慧的林和靖在孤山過著悠然自得的生活，西湖的山水與人和諧共處，連砍柴做飯的山民在這里也都過得很快樂，我也想追隨林和靖過這樣逍遙的日子。

過了幾天，范仲淹又去孤山拜訪林和靖，這一次又約了幾個朋友，結果天有不測風云，一場大雨使他們不得不取消行程，怏怏不樂的范仲淹寫了一首題為《與人約訪林處士阻雨因寄》的詩寄給林和靖表達失落感：

閑約諸公扣隱扃，江天風雨忽飄零。

方憐春滿王孫草，可忍云遮處士星。

蕙帳未容登末席，蘭舟無賴寄前汀。

湖山早晚逢晴齊，重待尋仙入翠屏。

讀上面兩首詩，我們可以明顯地看出范仲淹與林和靖論道意猶未盡的意思。兩年以后，天圣六年（1028年）秋，已被晏殊推薦為秘閣校理的范仲淹再一次去孤山拜訪林和靖。為什么范仲淹這么想和林和靖見面？范仲淹是個入世極深的官員，當然不是為了清談，這從此后他多次上書議論時事，可以得到印證。

此次見面林和靖也有詩《送范寺丞》贈范仲淹：

林中蕭寂款吾廬，

猶欣接緒馀。

去棹看當辨江樹，

離尊聊為摘園蔬。

馬卿才大常能賦，

梅福官卑數上書。

黼座垂精正求治，

何時條對召公車。

因天圣二年（1024年）范仲淹曾遷大理寺丞，故林和靖稱范仲淹為范寺丞。

“馬卿才大常能賦”，指的是漢武帝與司馬相如的典故，漢武帝有一天在宮中讀到司馬相如的《子虛賦》，感嘆奇才，下詔讓在四川的司馬相如進京為官。李白曾有詩“漢家天子馳駟馬，赤車蜀道迎相如”以記。“梅福官卑數上書”的典故出于《漢書》，說梅福很有才華，卻不被漢成帝劉驁重用，辭官居家，屢次上書朝廷議論朝政，不被采納。

這首詩的大意為，在秋天樹葉凋落的季節，又一次與范仲淹相見。你的才能可與司馬相如相比，不會像梅福那樣得不到重用。

這既是林和靖對范仲淹的評價，又是對范仲淹的鼓勵。

林和靖雖然比范仲淹年長二十多歲，可兩個人一見如故，這個“故”，我以為就是“家國情懷”，也就是范仲淹在《岳陽樓記》中寫的“先天下之憂而憂，后天下之樂而樂”。我們讀范仲淹的這首《寄贈林逋處士》，是不是也可以看出，林和靖隱士不隱，雖處江湖之遠，卻心系天下，只不過不愿為官罷了：

唐虞重逸人，束帛降何頻。

風俗因君厚，文章至老淳。

玉田耕小隱，金闕夢高真。

罷釣輪生蠹，慵冠鑒積塵。

餌蓮攀鶴頂，歌雪扣琴身。

墨妙青囊秘，丹靈綠發新。

嶺霞明四望，巖筍入諸鄰。

幾侄簪裾盛，諸生禮樂循。

朝遷唯鶚，鄉黨不傷麟。

吊古夫差國，懷賢伍相津。

劇談來劍俠，騰嘯駭山神。

有客瞻冥翼，無端預紳。

未能忘帝力，猶待補天均。

早晚功名外，孤云可得親。

范仲淹此詩的大意為，當今是像唐堯和虞舜那樣的太平盛世，您這位高人雖然一直隱逸，也一定會得到朝廷的重用。很多人只顧追名逐利，你卻忘卻功名而隱逸，如同俗世中的一股清流。又讀了你最近的文章，感覺越來越淳厚有味。

事實上林和靖隱逸孤山之前曾經多年行走江浙一帶，結交過很多人，即便后來隱逸孤山，也經常有為官的文人探訪，可以說他對世道人心洞若觀火，不然，范仲淹也不會對他敬重有加。

（作者系杭州市政協智庫專家、杭州文史專家。）

In 1049， Fang Zhongyan （989-1052）， already 61 years old， assumed office as the prefect of Hangzhou， after serving as the prefect of Dengzhou （in Henan province） for more than three years. Standing in front of the tomb of Lin Bu on the Solitary Hill at the northwestern corner of West Lake， Fan would undoubtedly reminisce about his two visits to Lin Bu years ago.

Born in the year 967， Lin Bu， also known as Lin Hejing， had already been dead for some 21 years by then. One of the most famous poets in Northern Song， Lin spent much of his later life in recluse near the West Lake—paradoxically， he is also one of the most famed hermits not only in Northern Song， but throughout the Chinese history. Staying single for his entire life， he was particularly fond of planting plum trees and raising cranes， therefore is best known for “taking plum trees as his wives and cranes as his sons”.

The first time that Fan paid a call on Lin was in the spring of 1026， when， serving as the magistrate of Xinghua county in neighboring Jiangsu， Fan was on a trip to Zhejiang with his friends. In one of his poems， Fan wrote： “By the gate， the chancellor on the hill lives. He looks at the raucous travelers undisturbed.…Say not those who admired you are far and few between， I for one will happily follow your footsteps with wine cups in my hand.”

“Chancellor on the hill” is in fact a reference to Tao Hongjing （456-536）， a recluse like Lin who lived on Maoshan Mountain in Jiangsu during the Southern Liang dynasty （502-557）. While not an official with any title， Tao was frequently sought after for advice by Emperor Wu of Liang （464-549）， the founder of Southern Liang. Similar to Tao， Lin Bu was also consulted regularly on matters of national significance. Hence the epithet “chancellor on the hill”. Indeed， before living in recluse in the Solitary Hill， Lin travelled widely around Jiangsu and Zhejiang， making friends and establishing an extensive network of connections. Since Lin was still regularly visited by scholar-officials even during his hermitage， he had a good grasp of the latest political developments.

A few days after this visit， Fan went again to Lins place with his friends. Unfortunately， they were thwarted by sudden torrential rains. An unhappy Fan Zhongyan wrote in another poem： “Inviting my friends to call on Mr. Lin， I didnt expect heavy winds and rains…. When the sun shines on the lake and the hill， I will seek out the legend amid green trees.”

Evidently， Fan longed to have more time with Lin， and was far from contented with only one visit. True to his words， two years later， during the autumn of 1028， Fan paid Lin another visit at the Solitary Hill. At the time， Fan had already been promoted， in charge of collating books and documents at the imperial library. After the visit， Lin penned a poem specially for Fan， comparing his talents to Sima Xiangru （c. 179-118 BC）， a Western Han （202 BC-9 AD） poet who was highly regarded by the Emperor Wu of Han （156-87 BC）.

Why was Fan so keen to meet up with Lin？ As Fan was deeply involved in Song politics， he was apparently not there for chitchat. And why was Lin， a hermit， willing to embrace Fan enthusiastically？ In spite of the age difference—Lin was over 20 years older than Fan， they hit it off right away from the very beginning. The most important reason， I believe， is they cared deeply about the country， that is， “Be the first to bear the worlds hardship， and the last to enjoy its comfort，” as Fans most widely known saying goes. For Lin， he was a hermit more in the physical sense， reluctant to be bound by official positions， but ready to contribute his share at any time if it could help improve the country.