杭州觀察（五）
馮儁熙
二零零三年十月十四和十五日
鳳凰山裡尋古蹟 岳王樓上宴友人
雨中登山，確是另一番味兒。
鳳凰山位於杭州城南，西湖東南，錢塘江北，乃南宋宮廷遺址之所在地。歷史系的一位老師（按：國內大學的學生皆稱眾教授講師為老師，而不像我等從英制者，需分清楚Prof. 與Dr.之别）組織了一次活動，到那兒去尋幽探勝。我沒有修他的歷史地理課而不請自來，誠因機不可失，來到昔日的臨安，難得有專家帶我去尋覓古蹟，追懷往事。
此行除了一眾中國同學外，還有十餘位來自瑞士蘇黎世大學的講師和學生。大家本以為需要用英語與他們交談，後來卻發現他們皆通漢語，原來他們是來自該校的中文系和歷史系的。所以普通話就成了當天的lingua franca。
登山前，先看山下的古蹟。老師帶我們看一個水道上的城門，昔日的小船沿著河道經過城門入城。又有六部橋，原來昔日南宋的六部（吏戶禮兵刑工）辦公的地方就在旁邊，故得名。之後沿馬路走，開始登山。路上，老師沿路告訴我們這裡那裡原來是古時的城牆和城門。九百年後，面目全非。若非有人如是告之，則我斷不會想像在這一切民居之下，會是昔日的城廓。
雨愈下愈大。到了梵天寺的遺址，已是傾盆瀉下。我也只好把照相機收好，因為如此天氣，拍照無望。有個瑞士同學索性脫下鞋子，赤腳走路。梵天寺如今只餘下兩柱經幢和一口井。昔日的殿宇早已成了農家的良田。
在正式離開人湮，走進深山之前，老師帶我們先吃飯。因為上山後，就再沒有地方可買東西吃了。那時大概是十一時多吧。
與我同桌吃飯的同學，都對香港很感興趣。他們問了我很多問題，其中最厲害的，當然是：「你們香港人是不是很討厭董建華呀？」想了一秒鐘該如何回答後，我還是直接的說：「是！」雖然大陸政府試圖封鎖消息，但與我接觸的同學中，幾乎誰都知道今年七月一日在香港發生了甚麼事。有一位同學說，她的雙胞胎姊姊是上海交通大學的學生，早前曾到香港大學交流了一個學期。她說姊姊回來後就常常發牢騷，說甚麼內地沒有言論自由云云。想來，我們香港對祖國的貢獻真不少，只願日後更多大陸學生可以來香港交流，將民主自由法治的精神帶回去發揚光大就好了。
吃飯過後，我們繼續上路。雨停了，山路也易走一點。由於要看不同的遺跡，所以走的路多不是鋪好的小徑（像香港太平山的那般），而是隨老師穿插於樹林裡。昔日的皇城早已被林木所湮沒，城牆的遺跡也只像一列土堆，任由樹木生於其上。我們參觀了幾年前才發現的南宋官窑遺跡，也看到過石刻的宋高宗御筆。我們又上了山上的亭台，欣賞霧中的杭州與西湖。我們在下山的途中，繼續參觀了宋高宗的「後花園」、南宋聖果寺遺跡中的大石佛和五代吳越的佛教石刻。又在另一座仍有香火的古寺裡，觀看和尚與善信在大殿裡誦經。最後，我們參觀了山下的南宋官窑博物館。
一路上，我與不同的瑞士朋友交談。難得有機會聽聽他們對中國大陸、香港和台灣的印象，知道他們是如何學漢語的，以及了解當代歐洲漢學界的發展。其他中國同學也慢慢的開始與他們交談起來。
傍晚，我們到岳王廟對面，西湖畔的岳王樓飯店吃飯。雙方的老師負責請客。菜色當然少不得杭州名菜──西湖醋魚、叫化雞和東坡肉等。知道老師和師母曾在劍橋待了半年，研究在歷史上，英國人在中國所拍下的照片，我就問他，在他到過的英國城市中，最喜歡的是那兒。他說：「始終都是劍橋。」也難怪時至今日，還有許許多多的中國學人，願效法徐志摩：「在康河的柔波裡，我甘心做一條水草！」雖然只是六個月，看他對劍橋也蠻熟識似的，他還問我有沒有去劍橋華人基督教會呢！
我的大陸同學的啤酒酒量，一點也不比那些說瑞士德語的朋友遜色。啤酒喝完一瓶又一瓶，老師們也真夠闊綽。最要命的是那中國式的敬酒，那些瑞士同學很快就學懂如何「玩埋一份」。究其本質，與劍橋formal hall時之pennying無異也。
話說這是那班浙大的大三同學，第二次如此宴請外來友人。第一次是大一的時候，一班來自香港中文大學歷史系的同學來交流。我好奇地問他們，那次的情況又怎樣。他們說也很開心，只可惜有部份同學在溝通上有些困難，說普通話時要逐個字說，還要再輔以英語。（希望當我離開浙大時，他們不會給我這樣的評語吧。）不過我覺得最難得的是那些瑞士人能通四種語言──德法英中。如果他們的漢語不行，要中國的同學們以英語跟他們交談的話，肯定大家在吃飯時，不會聊得這麼投契。
時光飛逝，又是互道再會時。讓我向這些瑞士友人說一聲：「Auf Wiedersehen!」
修訂於二零零三年十月二十四日
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Observations
in Hangzhou (5)
Isaac
Chun Hai Fung
14th
and 15th October, 2003.
Looking for historical sites on Phoenix Peaks,
Hosting a feast for friends in Yue
Wang Lou.
Climbing
up a hill in the rain, is a somewhat different
experience.
Phoenix Peaks (with double peaks) are located to the south
of Hangzhou city, to the south-east of West Lake, and to the north of Qiantang River. There was the site of the
imperial court of Southern Song Dynasty (AD 1127-1279). A teacher of the
History Department (Note: In mainland China, all professors and lecturers
are addressed as teachers, as contrasted to the British system, in which we
have to distinguish between Prof. and Dr.) organized an outing to go there.
Though I do not take his class of historical geography, I came along as well
because this was really a precious opportunity to explore historical sites and
learn their history under the guidance of an expert.
Beside a
group of Chinese students in this trip, there were also more than ten lecturers
and students from the University of Zurich,
Switzerland. At first, we all thought that we had to communicate with them in
English. Later we discovered that they could all speak Chinese. Actually they
came from the departments of Chinese and History. So, mandarin Chinese had
become the lingua franca of the day.
Before
going up the hill, we first took a look at the historical sites at its foot.
The teacher brought us there to see an ancient gate over a water passage
through which small boats sailed into the city. There was also a Bridge of Six
Ministries. It was named after the Six Ministries (Personnel, Financial, Ritual
(or Ceremonial), Military, Judicial and Engineering) of Southern Song Dynasty
whose offices stood nearby. After that, we started our journey up the hill.
Along the road, our teacher told us here and there were the ancient gates and
walls. After nine hundred years, everything was gone. If nobody told me today,
I would never imagined that beneath all these houses, were once the city walls
and gates.
The rain
was getting heavier and heavier. When we arrived at the historical site of Fantian Temple (Fantien
refers to the highest level of Heavens in Buddhism), it was already
down-pouring. I had to pack my camera as in this weather,
there was no hope to take any photos. A Swiss student even took off his shoes
and walked on his feet all the way. Today what were left with Fantian Temple are two sutra-poles and a well.
The ancient temple had become the peasant’s fields long time ago.
Before
we properly went into the hill, we had lunch with our teachers. Because once we
went further up, there would not be anywhere where we could buy food to eat. It
was about 11 o’clock.
The
classmates who sat with me on the same table were all interested in Hong Kong. They asked me many questions,
in which the most serious one was, “Do you Hong Kong people dislike Tung Chee Hua
(the Chief Executive of our city)?” After thinking for a second how should I answer, I replied directly, “Yes!” Although the
mainland Chinese government tried to block the flow of news, nearly everyone
among those whom I have contacts with, knows what had happened in Hong Kong on the first of July this year.
A classmate told me that her twin sister was a student in the Shanghai Communications University. Early in the year, she had been
to Hong Kong University as an exchange student for a semester. Once
she came back from Hong Kong, she has been bitching about the government, saying that there is no
freedom of speech here in mainland China and so on. It seems to me that
our contribution to the mainland from Hong Kong is quite considerable. What I
hope is that in the near future, there will be more mainland Chinese students
going to Hong
Kong
for exchange, and then bringing home and proclaiming the spirit of democracy,
liberty and the rule of law.
After
lunch, we continued our journey. It has stopped raining and it was now easier
to go on the mountain trail. As we were going to see different historical
sites, we followed our teacher through the forest instead of walking on the
paved trail like that on the Peak in Hong Kong. The imperial court of the past
had long disappeared in the forest. The ruins of the walls are now like a pile
of soil, on which trees grow. We visited an imperial kiln (for the production
of celadon wares for the Emperor), which was only discovered several years ago.
We have also seen the stone inscription of calligraphy of Emperor Gaozong of the Southern Song Dynasty. We also went up to
the pavilion on the mountain top to enjoy the beautiful scenery of Hangzhou and the West Lake in the mist. On our way down the
hill, we continued to visit the “Backyard garden” of Emperor Gaozong (the first emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty,
enthroned in the year of 1127), the stone statues of Buddha in the ruins of the
temple of Holy Fruits of the Southern Song Dynasty and Buddhist stone carvings
of the Kingdom of Wu-yue in the Period of Five
Dynasties. Furthermore, we visited an ancient Buddhist temple which is still running
today, and took the opportunity to observe the sutra-chanting of the monks and
believers. Lastly, we visited the Southern Song Imperial (or Guan) Kiln Museum at the foot of the hill.
On the
way, I chatted with different Swiss friends. It was precious to have an
opportunity to hear what their impressions of mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan are like, to know how they learn
Chinese, and to understand the contemporary development of Sinology in Europe. Other Chinese students
gradually started chatting with them as well.
In the
evening, we went to have dinner in Yue Wang Lou Restaurant, which is located on the shore
of the West Lake and opposite the Temple of Yuefei. The teachers of both side
treated us all. Definitely, we could not missed the famous dishes of Hangzhou --- Fish from the West Lake cooked with vinegar, “Beggar’s
Chicken” and “Dongbo’s Meat”. As I was told that our
teacher and his wife had been to Cambridge for half a year, studying the
historical photographs taken by the Brits in China, I asked him, which city among
those which he had been to in Britain did he like best. He said, “It’s
still Cambridge.” So there is no surprise that up to today,
there are still a lot of Chinese scholars who would like to take Xu Zhimo as their exemplar: “Under
the gentle waves of River Cam, I am willing to be a waterweed!” Although
staying for six months only, he seemed to know Cambridge quite well. He even asked me
whether had I been to the Cambridge Chinese Christian
Church!
My
mainland Chinese friends drank a lot of beer, comparable to the Swiss German
speakers. A bottle after a bottle, the teachers were really generous. The most
important is the Chinese way of toasting. I think the Swiss students had learnt
quickly how to play this “game” as well. In essence, there is not much
difference with “pennying” in formal hall in Cambridge (i.e. to get drunk.)
It was
said that this was the second time that this class of year 3 students from Zhejiang University held such a feast for their
guests. The first time was when they were freshmen, a
group of students from the department of History of Chinese University of Hong Kong came here for an exchange programme. Curiously I asked them what was like last time.
They said that they were also very happy. Unfortunately some Hong Kong students had difficulties in
communication with them, as they could not spoke Mandarin Chinese fluently and
English had to been employed as well. (I hoped that at the time when I left Zhejiang University, they would not give me such a
comment then.) However, it was more precious that these Swiss people could
speak four languages --- German, French, English and Chinese. If they could not
speak in Chinese and that the Chinese students had to communicate with them in
English, then it was for sure that their conversations would not be that
enthusiastic during their dinner.
Time
flies, once again it was time to say goodbye. Let me say to these Swiss friends,
“Auf Wiedersehen!”
Revised on 24th
October, 2003.
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