韓曉露

真沒想到，湖州原來那么古老，若不是前一陣子深度探訪這座城市，還真不知道。

古安城

安城有一段爬滿野藤的城墻，歷經(jīng)風(fēng)雨卻依然整齊而堅(jiān)實(shí)。城墻外是一條深闊的護(hù)城河，河岸長(zhǎng)滿苔蘚，河面漂著浮草。

安城始建于唐代開元年間，為安吉縣治，當(dāng)時(shí)無城郭，筑城在元末明初。

遺存的城墻綿延3000多米，有5米多高。安城古時(shí)有四處城門：東門迎春、南門朝陽(yáng)、西門寶成、北門拱宸，有譙樓更鋪。城墻當(dāng)年的意義在于扎根土地、保護(hù)居民、防御山溪洪水、阻擋金戈鐵馬。明清時(shí)期城墻被多次修復(fù)。

事實(shí)上安城這塊土地的歷史久遠(yuǎn)得很。在漢代劉向的著述里，戰(zhàn)國(guó)時(shí)期，有一位叫作晏子的外交家，與春秋初年的政治家管仲相提并論；晏子出使楚國(guó)那段著名故事，膾炙人口，流傳至今，并且編入了中小學(xué)課本教材；據(jù)說，晏子娶了吳王的女兒，居住安城。

后來，這塊土地上、這座古城里顯然還發(fā)生了很多的故事……

安城漸漸頹廢，雖存三門，可惜迎春門被人為拆去；所幸朝陽(yáng)門已列入浙江省省級(jí)文物保護(hù)單位。

如今，我們?cè)诎布h博物館里看見了這塊古老土地上先人的遺物。一種石質(zhì)的工具，考證說出產(chǎn)于舊石器時(shí)代，時(shí)當(dāng)于80萬年前。一塊龍形的玉佩，保存完好，典雅而不失霸氣。它的主人肯定是一位貴族，因?yàn)橛袷诠糯揪褪琴F器，更何況這是一塊雕刻著龍的形狀的配飾。還有一只瑟，仔細(xì)觀察，還能看見留在其上的絲質(zhì)琴弦。這種巨大的樂器，當(dāng)年屬于宮廷樂器中的一種，平素里很少見到。

最多的寶貝是銅鏡。湖州曾是全國(guó)銅鏡的主要產(chǎn)區(qū)，多出土于安吉高禹，那邊地勢(shì)高，可能是貴族墓地。這里展出的銅鏡，比前段時(shí)間浙江省博物館里專門的銅鏡展還要多。聽說，這些珍貴的器物深埋在地下那么多年，不少是因?yàn)榈禺a(chǎn)開發(fā)而被民工隨便一挖挖出來的。相信還有很多深埋地底，不為人知。

博物館里的陳列展現(xiàn)的只是安城遺物的一小部分，但是安城的富庶繁盛已可窺見。

鄣吳村

鄣吳鎮(zhèn)鄣吳村的吳昌碩故居是一座四合式的深宅大院，原有磚木結(jié)構(gòu)的兩進(jìn)三間二樓的房子，現(xiàn)存一進(jìn)，懸王個(gè)簃書寫的“吳昌碩故居”的金字匾牌。平屋里有吳氏史跡展廳，陳列有《吳氏世系圖》和明嘉靖朝“吳氏父子四進(jìn)士”的墓碑。天井后面是主樓。中間堂屋上掛著吳昌碩嫡孫吳鄴的《紫藤》圖，兩邊是于右任撰、吳昌碩嫡重孫吳書的對(duì)聯(lián)：“詩(shī)書畫而外復(fù)作印人、絕藝飛行全世界；元明清以來及于民國(guó)、風(fēng)流占斷百名家?！?/p>

二樓東頭是吳昌碩的書齋，書桌上安放著自制的刻刀和筆架。書房側(cè)邊開有一扇非常狹小的窗戶。據(jù)說，當(dāng)年吳昌碩每天一回家，就躲到樓上去，就著小窗之光，練書法習(xí)刻章。當(dāng)?shù)氐泥l(xiāng)鄰給吳昌碩取了個(gè)綽號(hào)叫“鄉(xiāng)阿姐”，說他足不出戶就像大閨女。

故居里四散陳列著吳昌碩書跡的各種拓片。

吳昌碩故居邊上有一座狀元橋，還有半月池及門樓。

村里一位制扇藝人做向?qū)?，帶我們?nèi)ゴ迳茸硬┪镳^看他的一個(gè)絕藝：沒有一個(gè)外露的釘子，而將扇子巧妙地整合起來。他告訴我們，鄣吳村現(xiàn)在是扇子生產(chǎn)大村，供應(yīng)著全國(guó)近三分之一的扇子市場(chǎng)，連杭州王星記扇廠的扇子基礎(chǔ)部分也是這里做的。

然后，這位制扇藝人帶我們?nèi)タ础按蟠筵祬谴?，小小孝豐鎮(zhèn)”。他介紹，宋代建鄣吳村之初，村民僅幾十戶，到清代已有五六千人之眾，名望屬建炎南渡的淮安吳氏為最，大凡宅第、牌坊、祠堂及陵墓等，多出吳門后代。我們?cè)诖謇镆姷搅藚遣T的第五代孫吳申生，他現(xiàn)在是吳昌碩故居的講解員，住在祖上曾經(jīng)放糧的一個(gè)倉(cāng)庫(kù)里。

環(huán)村流淌著一條鯉魚河。鯉魚河是有由來的。據(jù)說，朱元璋路過鄣吳村，發(fā)現(xiàn)風(fēng)水可能會(huì)出皇帝，就派通曉風(fēng)水的劉伯溫再度探訪。劉伯溫自知其意，來了后表面夸贊風(fēng)景好，實(shí)在暗地里安排人壞了風(fēng)水。而并不知情的當(dāng)?shù)厝司桶堰@河喚作“鯉魚河”，意在表達(dá)這里可能會(huì)出現(xiàn)“鯉魚跳龍門”者。果然，后來村里出了四進(jìn)士，也出了藝術(shù)大師吳昌碩。至于帝王，倒是出在鄰縣長(zhǎng)興，叫陳霸先。

鯉魚河寬僅1米多，一眼能望見河底的淤泥。村民說，淤泥底下是河床，一溜壘得非常整齊漂亮的鵝卵石。

揚(yáng)子鱷村

湖州的古老還表現(xiàn)在揚(yáng)子鱷身上。被稱作“活化石”的揚(yáng)子鱷，在長(zhǎng)興的一個(gè)村落里繁衍。

揚(yáng)子鱷村實(shí)在太大了，有一個(gè)又一個(gè)養(yǎng)殖鱷魚的池塘。我們坐上電瓶車觀光游覽。

目前，揚(yáng)子鱷村一共有兩期基地?；厮闹軜淠痉泵€種植了一大片紅梅。養(yǎng)鱷池邊上還有亭臺(tái)樓榭長(zhǎng)廊，別有一番情趣。

在二期基地里，有好多條揚(yáng)子鱷從水里爬出來，趴在岸邊曬太陽(yáng)，一動(dòng)也不動(dòng)，遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)地望去，就像巨大的塑膠玩具。偶爾有幾條揚(yáng)子鱷搖著尾巴，撲通一下滑入泥塘，激起一圈水花。

飼養(yǎng)員說，揚(yáng)子鱷吃螺、蛙、蝦、蟹、魚及鼠、鳥等，遇上較大的獵物，會(huì)以粗硬的尾巴擊打后食用。

揚(yáng)子鱷已在這個(gè)地方扎根，據(jù)說最早只是一對(duì)。當(dāng)?shù)厝撕八鼈優(yōu)椤肮怼?，一般不敢惹它們，于是就沒有去獵殺。后來，林業(yè)局的同志發(fā)現(xiàn)了，就在這里設(shè)立了一個(gè)基地。沒想到經(jīng)過若干年，現(xiàn)在居然有了1000多條。

揚(yáng)子鱷要冬眠，于是，基地建立起有松泥的池塘小島，揚(yáng)子鱷會(huì)在泥土里面打洞。如果遇到游客嘴巴里發(fā)出“啪啪啪”的聲響時(shí)，揚(yáng)子鱷們就會(huì)因受驚嚇而從泥地里費(fèi)力地探出一個(gè)嘴巴尖來。

基地里還有其他的鱷種。比如來自泰國(guó)暹羅河的鱷魚。這些鱷魚一到冬天就要圈養(yǎng)在太陽(yáng)能暖房里。而很多剛出生的揚(yáng)子鱷就跟它們一起圈養(yǎng)，在冬日暖房里閉著眼睛曬太陽(yáng)。

據(jù)說貴養(yǎng)揚(yáng)子鱷，是因?yàn)樗穆褧?huì)隨著溫度變化而孵化出不同性別的鱷魚，而且鱷魚身上還保留很多恐龍的特質(zhì)。

怎么樣才能使揚(yáng)子鱷基地更加繁榮昌盛，這是讓揚(yáng)子鱷村村長(zhǎng)一直傷腦筋的事情。

于是浙江省政府的參事就來了一個(gè)現(xiàn)場(chǎng)辦公，開了一個(gè)小型會(huì)議。會(huì)議大致意思是在周邊設(shè)立一個(gè)類似度假村的休閑場(chǎng)所，把附近的滬寧杭人吸引過來，然后再在村里搞點(diǎn)特色文藝活動(dòng)；并且不妨將熊貓之類的另外“活化石”也引進(jìn)一起飼養(yǎng)，以此來吸引更多的游客。

村長(zhǎng)聽了很受啟發(fā)，說，接下去揚(yáng)子鱷基地三期又要開出來了。

看來，“活化石”揚(yáng)子鱷將會(huì)繼續(xù)古老下去。

Tap the Secrets of Huzhou

By Han Xiaolu

Huzhou is unfathomably older and deeper than I thought.

The Ancient Town of Ancheng

The age-old city walls in the town remain neat and sturdy against the severity of time. Beyond the walls lies a wide and deep moat， with both sides covered by thriving moss.

The town was built in the Kaiyuan years of the Tang dynasty （618-907）， under the jurisdiction of the prefecture of Anji at the time – without city walls. Fortification did not come until the early years of the Ming （1368-1644）.

The remains of the city wall meander approximately 3，000 meters and rise five meters high. The town was safeguarded by four city gates on four sides in ancient times. The gates were known as Yingchun， Chaoyang， Baocheng and Gongchen respectively， intended against military invasion and flood. The gates went through renovation several times in the centuries of the Ming and Qing （1644-1911）.

Legend has it that Yanzi， the most famous diplomat in the Warring States period （475-221BC） of China， once lived in the ancient town. Three gates have survived the decline of the city and Yingchun Gate was torn down. Fortunately， Chaoyang Gate is a cultural relic unit under provincial-level protection.

The life of the Paleolithic people can be relived now in the county museum. Copper mirrors constitute a prominent part of the museums collection. Huzhou is proud to have the countrys largest number of copper mirror findings. The Gaoyu area of Anji is believed to have been a major burial ground for noble families in ancient times， convincingly illustrating the ancient prosperity of the town.

Zhangwu Village

Zhangwu Village is home to the former residence of artist Wu Changshuo （1844-1927）. Inside the courtyard compound is a two-storey brick and wood structure. The prominent seal carver and painter spent a lot of time in the study that is tucked away at the eastern end of the second floor， practicing calligraphy and seal carving. He was so house-bound that village folks fondly called him a ‘country girl.

Tablet rubbings on display in the house hint at the seal engravers lifetime accomplishments. Wu Shensheng， representing the fifth generation of the Wu family， now lives in the village and works in the former residence as a guide.

What also recommends the village is its fan-making industry whose output accounts for nearly one-third of the national total. The village is also a major supplier of fan frameworks for Wang Xing Ji， a time-honored paper fan label based in Hangzhou. A paper fan museum of the village highlights the manufacturing process and the villages fan-making tradition.

Many believe the fine cultural heritage of the village owes a lot to the Carp River. The river and its ‘fengshui caught the eye of Zhu Yuanzhang， the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty （1368-1644）， when he was passing through the village.

Alligator Village

For a deeper understanding about the historical charm of Huzhou， the more intrepid travelers can go to Changxing to see the menacing Chinese alligators in the Alligator Village.

The first two phases of the alligator farms in the village have been completed， presenting a lush view ideal for sightseeing too. The sinister reptiles can be seen leaning over the banks and enjoying sunshine. Watched from a proper distance， the alligators look as listless and still as huge plastic toys.

When the first two Chinese alligators were spotted by villagers， people were so scared that they called the reptiles ‘monsters and dared not kill them. The alligators finally found a home here after the local forestry administration set a special farm to encourage reproduction of the two newcomers. Now there are more than 1，000 alligators living on the farms.

Alligators make holes in mud ponds and isles and hide themselves there for hibernation. It is amusing to see how the ferocious-looking carnivores emerge from behind the mud and respond to tourists “pa-pa-pa sound like a scared child. There are many farms. It is fun to ride a battery-operated tour vehicle to tour around.

How to make the alligator village known to more people and to build a better home for the alligators has long been a headache for the village head， who has been thinking about launching the third phase of the alligator park. A feasible solution may be to add more leisure and recreational facilities to the village to attract more tourists from Shanghai， Nanjing and Hangzhou.