陳杰

芥川龍之介的《中國游記》，以一個日本人的眼光，看了1921年那個年代的中國。他對西湖的大篇幅的介紹，無疑能夠讓我們看到近代西湖的歷史、人文及其變遷，是留存到今天的一段珍貴的西湖歷史文獻。

在今天的日本文壇，有兩個文學獎廣受矚目，它們皆是1935年的作家菊池寬為紀念兩位友人而分別設立的。一個是頒發(fā)給通俗文學作品的直木獎，以日本著名小說家直木三十五的名字命名;而另一個頒發(fā)給純文學作品的芥川獎，就是以今天我們要推介的這位名人——芥川龍之介的名字命名。

作為日本近代著名作家，芥川龍之介在1921年應大阪每日新聞社的邀請，前往中國。3月20日，他在上海登陸，并在中國的上海、杭州、北京等地游覽，直到7月回國。這是芥川龍之介一生中唯一的一次出國旅行。從1921年8月開始，芥川龍之介在《大阪每日新聞》和《東京日日新聞》這兩家日本東部和西部最有影響力的媒體上連載他的《中國游記》的第一部《上海游記》。1925年，日本改造社出版了芥川龍之介的《中國游記》，除了為我們留下了芥川龍之介一生中文字最多的一部作品以外，還為我們留下了一部研究當時中國社會的珍貴資料。

在這本《中國游記》中，和杭州相關的占據(jù)了十節(jié)，包括《杭州一夜》（）（）（），《西湖》（）至（）及《靈隱寺》。從芥川龍之介的文字中，我們甚至可以勾勒出他在杭州的兩天兩夜的行蹤。

入住新新飯店

芥川龍之介到達杭州是晚上7點，他在車站跟新新飯店的攬客員接上了頭，坐上人力車，穿越城市前往西湖邊的新新飯店。今天，這家飯店依然矗立在西湖的北山路上。

在人力車上，芥川龍之介和西湖有了“初次接觸”，他最初看到的西湖是一片夜晚的“寂寥”。那個時候的西湖，夜游沒有今天這樣熱鬧，所以，芥川龍之介寫道：

“西湖在白乎乎馬路的左邊，鋪展著她那黑乎乎的水面。西湖早已入睡，四周寂靜無聲。就連空曠的馬路上，除了我們二人乘坐的人力車，連一條走在路上的小狗都看不見?！?/p>

這個時候的芥川龍之介，應該是走在今天湖濱街一帶。而等到穿過今天少年宮一帶，芥川龍之介終于見到了夜西湖，他寫道：

“這當兒，一片薄明的水面漸漸顯現(xiàn)在我們面前。啊，西湖！我在這一瞬之間才真的感覺到此乃西湖。從空中云層的裂縫里，流瀉下一片幅度不寬的、瀑布一般的月光，照射在茫茫煙波之上。那斜斜橫穿于水面的，該是蘇堤或白堤吧。堤上有個隆起的三角形，那是有名的斷橋。這美麗的銀色和黑色，畢竟是日本所無法見到的。我在左搖右晃的人力車上，不由得坐直了身子，定定地注視著眼前的西湖，并為它的美麗而久久出神?！?/p>

盡管是在夜晚，借著夜晚微弱的月光，芥川龍之介用他文豪的筆觸，還是將他最初印象中的美麗西湖記錄下來了。

泛舟湖上

在第二天上午，芥川龍之介從湖濱的碼頭坐上“畫舫”，前往游湖。所謂“畫舫”，芥川龍之介說只是一艘普通的小船，裝了遮陽布和黃銅扶手而已。上船的地點是日本領事館旁，就在今天望湖樓的后方。抗戰(zhàn)勝利以后，國民政府將此建筑回收，作為外賓招待所使用。1946年，司徒雷登來到杭州時曾經下榻這里，也是在和芥川龍之介同樣的地方登船游湖。

芥川龍之介首先看到的就是白堤。白居易在日本是一位影響巨大的文學家。特別是自《源氏物語》《枕草子》等日本古典文學作品頻繁引用他的詩文后，白居易成為日本文學界最為熟知的中國文學家之一。芥川龍之介靠近白堤，馬上想到的是記錄在池田桃川《江南名勝史跡》里的那首白居易的詩：

這首詩名叫《夜歸》。芥川龍之介說：

“盡管我與他游歷的時間不同，他在夜里，我是白天，但這些詩句詠唱的景致卻依稀可見?！?/p>

船過了錦帶橋，就是平湖秋月。接著，吸引芥川龍之介目光的就是文瀾閣，但是，那個時候的文瀾閣不對游客開放。在看過孤山寺后，芥川龍之介一行就去了俞樓。

探訪俞樓

俞樓是章太炎先生的老師俞樾的舊居，章太炎在詁經精舍讀書時師從俞樾。有趣的是，之前在上海的時候，芥川龍之介剛剛探訪了住在上海的章太炎先生，還在《中國游記》中留下了有趣的記錄：

“章太炎先生倒穿了一件背面鑲著厚毛皮的黑馬褂兒，外面還套著一件灰色的大褂兒，顯然他不會覺得冷，況且他還坐在一張鋪有毛墊子的藤椅上。我被先生的高談闊論所深深吸引，甚至忘記了抽煙。此外，先生那暖暖的穿著，和他悠然自得伸開雙腳的姿態(tài)，更是令我羨慕不已?！?/p>

在俞樓，芥川龍之介見到了彭玉麟（）為俞樾繪的《梅花圖》。芥川龍之介特別提到，這是他的朋友、日本著名作家谷崎潤一郎收藏的《梅花圖》的原本。在看到俞樾的照片時，他自然想起了他讀過的太炎先生的俞樾傳記：

“雅性不好聲色，既喪母、妻，終身不肴食?！?/p>

拜謁岳廟

從俞樓跨過西泠橋，芥川龍之介接下去探訪的是蘇小小墓和秋瑾墓。接著，他乘坐的“畫舫”穿過蘇堤的跨虹橋，經曲院風荷，拜謁岳廟。那時候的岳廟正在修建，芥川龍之介對岳飛墓有一段有趣的評說：

“墓前立著一塊苔痕斑斑的石碑，上書‘宋岳鄂王之墓幾個大字。墓背的一片竹木林子已近荒蕪。這景象，對于我等并非岳飛子孫的人來說，并無悲哀之感，反而感到了一種詩趣。我沿著墓地的四周踱步，同時沉浸在一點兒懷古的心緒之中，‘岳王墳上草萋萋。好像有人作過這樣的詩句?！?/p>

芥川龍之介的記憶在這里出了一點小錯，這句詩出自元代趙孟頫的《岳鄂王墓》，原句當為：“鄂王墳上草離離”。

有趣的是，芥川龍之介還在這里提到了一種食物——油條。他寫道：

“自古以來，壞人很多，可沒有比秦檜更讓人痛恨的了。在上海一帶的馬路上，有一種棒條狀的油炸食品，確切的寫法是‘油炸塊。據(jù)宗方小太郎的說法，本來的意思是油炸秦檜，所以原來的名字叫‘油炸檜。”

仰望雷峰塔

在樓外樓用過一餐“中國午餐”以后，芥川龍之介一行登船前往三潭印月。這里，他提到了蘇東坡：

“在這小島附近有三座石塔，據(jù)說是蘇東坡?lián)翁氐臅r候，用作行船的航標。有一件事是千真萬確的，即這三座石塔，月明之夜會在水面上投下三個月影。”

在看完九曲橋以后，船只就向雷峰塔駛去，芥川龍之介得以遙望這座“如老衲”的古塔。

芥川龍之介用了一個明治大正時代日本人的視角去觀看這座古塔：

“就眼前仰望此塔的感受而言，它與站在淺草的游樂園‘花屋敷附近遙看十二層高的凌云閣，并無太大的差異。只是，雷峰塔紅磚砌就的塔壁上，爬滿了蔦蘿。不僅如此，有幾棵雜樹甚至把他們的枝梢伸展到塔頂，且在風中晃動著。這樣一座塔聳立在陽光之中，煙霧朦朧，如夢如幻，果真十分壯觀?！?/p>

芥川龍之介提到的凌云閣位于東京都淺草，1890年竣工，是一座52米高、12層的建筑物。值得注意的是，在芥川龍之介這段文字寫成后不久，壯觀的凌云閣和雷峰塔相繼倒塌——1923年，日本關東大地震中，凌云閣8層以上建筑倒塌，因無法修復，同年被日本工兵隊爆破解體;而雷峰塔在1924年倒塌，今天的雷峰塔為2002年重建。

在返回新新飯店的路上，芥川龍之介見到了保俶塔，他說：

“與像個老僧似的雷峰塔相比，細細聳立的保俶塔的倩影，正如古人所云，也許像一位亭亭玉立的美女?！?/p>

這說明他也是知道“雷峰如老衲，保俶如美人”這一著名典故的。

探訪靈隱寺

芥川龍之介應該是去過靈隱寺的，而他把去靈隱寺的經歷，寫在了寄給友人的明信片上，同時把這些內容通過“寫明信片”的方式記載在《中國游記》里。

從行文看，很可能他是在寄旅杭州的第二個白天去了靈隱寺，先到了玉泉魚躍，然后朝拜飛來峰、靈隱寺，歸來順道看了鳳林寺。熟知白居易典故的芥川龍之介，又在給游人的明信片里提到了一個白居易在杭州的故事：

“據(jù)說白樂天曾問鳥窠：‘佛法的大意如何？鳥窠答道：‘諸惡莫作，眾善奉行。樂天又說：‘三尺童子亦知之。鳥窠笑曰：‘三尺童子亦知之，然八十老翁亦難行。樂天即服?！?/p>

這段出自《西湖游覽志》的故事被這位日本文豪寫在給友人的明信片上，讓今天的杭州人看來十分親切。

芥川龍之介的《中國游記》，以一個日本人的眼光，看了1921年那個年代的中國。雖然有許多作家個人的觀點、看法，但是也為我們保留下了那個時代的真實記錄。他對西湖的大篇幅的介紹，無疑能夠讓我們看到近代西湖的歷史、人文及其變遷，是留存到今天的一段珍貴的西湖歷史文獻。

In Japan， Akutagawa Award， established in 1935 by Kan Kikuchi， then-editor of Bungeishunjū magazine， is a Japanese literary award presented semi-annually. The award is named after Akutagawa Ryunosuke （1892-1927）， a prominent Japanese writer considered the father of short stories of Japan. It is one of Japans most sought after literary prizes.

From March to July 1921， Akutagawa Ryunosuke traveled across China as a journalist for Osaka-based Mainichi Shimbun. He landed I Shanghai on March 20. He visited Hangzhou for two days in May. From August 1921， he began serializing his Shanghai Travelogue in Mainichi Shimbun in Osaka and Tokyo Nichi Nichi Shimbum. In 1925， Kaizo Sha， a publisher and bookstore in Japan， put on the market the writers China Travelogue. It is the longest work Akutagawa ever wrote. Moreover， modern scholars use this travelogue as a reference book for information on life in China back then. In this book， ten chapters are about Hangzhou. One night in Hangzhou covers three chapters and West Lake is in six chapters， and Lingyin Temple is a stand-alone chapter. His account allows the reader to trace exactly what he did in the two days and two nights of his stay in Hangzhou.

The following are some of the highlights of his activities in Hangzhou.

First Sight of the West Lake

Akutagawa reached Hangzhou by train at 7 in the evening. He got into contact with a receptionist from Xinxin Hotel on North Hill Street by the northern bank of the West Lake. The Japanese writer then took a rickshaw ride through the city to the lakeside hotel. His first sight of the lake gave him an impression of quietness. In his travelogue， the writer described the darkish lake water and empty road. Akutagawa and his friend （a photographer） didnt see anybody. It can be construed that the first glimpse occurred on Hubin Road， part of the busiest bank section of the West Lake today. Then he got a full glimpse of the beauty of the West Lake. The moonlight cascaded from a crack of clouds and poured on the Broken Bridge. He said he had never seen such silver and dark colors in Japan.

Boat Tour on the Lake

On the morning of the first day in Hangzhou， Akutagawa took a boat tour at a pier not far from the Japanese Consulate in Hangzhou， which is now behind Lake View Pavilion on the West Lake. After the victory of Chinas War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression in 1945， the consulate property was confiscated by the national government and repurposed into a hotel for international guests. In 1946， John Leighton Stuart stayed at the hotel in his visit to Hangzhou in October， three months after he was appointed USA ambassador to China. Though the boat Akutagawa took was called a pleasure boat， it was just an ordinary tourist boat decorated with an awning and a brass handrail. The writer went westward on the lake in parallel with the Bai Causeway. Then he passed an attraction called Autumn Moon over the Calm Lake， a platform on the lake. Akutagawa visited the Solitary Hill Temple. He wished to visit Wenlange Pavilion where a copy of Complete Library of the Four Branches was housed as of 1782， but the library didnt open to visitors. Akutagawa then opted to visit the Yue Residence.

Yu Residence

The residence is the former residence of Yu Yue （1821-1907）， among his best known disciples was Zhang Taiyan （1869-1936）， a philologist， textual critic， philosopher and revolutionary. He studied philology and textual criticism under the guidance of Yu Yue. Interestingly enough， the Japanese writer had just visited Zhang in Shanghai before he came to Hangzhou. In his travelogue， Akutagawa described the master in vivid details. At the residence， Akutagawa admired a painting by Peng Yulin （1816-1890）， a renowned politician and artist of the Qing （1644-1911）. Akutagawa mentioned that it was the original of the painting and that his friend Junichiro Tanizaki （1886-1965）， one of the major writers of modern Japanese literature， had a replica of the painting.

Yue Fei Temple

After the Yu Residence， Akutagawa visited the tomb of Su Xiaoxiao （479-502）， a young girl who died in a heartbreakingly tragedy， and the tomb of Qiu Jin （1875-1907）， a revolutionary who was executed after the failure of an armed uprising against the Qing Dynasty. After the tomb visit， Akutagawa resumed the boat tour. The boat went under a bridge that is part of the Su Causeway. After a brief boat ride， Akutagawa came to the memorial temple of Yue Fei， a general who was accused of nonexistent crimes and executed after his factories against the invading nomads from the north.

Thunder Peak Pagoda

After lunch at Louwailou Restaurant， Akutagawa took a boat ride to visit Three Pools Mirroring the Moon， an isle attraction near the southern side of the lake. After the isle， the boat went near the Thunder Peak Pagoda， which stood like an old man. The pagoda， originally built in 977， crashed in 1924， three years after Akutagawas visit. The present one， a modern structure， was built in 2002. On his way back to Xinxin Hotel， Akutagawa examined Baochu Pagoda on the northern side of the lake.

Lingyin Temple

On the basis of the writers account， Akutagawa visited the Lingyin Temple on the second day of his visit to Hangzhou. On his way to the temple， he visited the Jade Spring， a garden park where huge fishes are kept in an oblong fish pond. He then visited the Lingyin Temple and the Peak Flying from Afar. On his way back to the hotel， he visited the Fenglin Temple. He wrote about his visit to Lingyin Temple on postcards. The texts reappeared in his China Travelogue.

Akutagawas account of his travel across China reflects his impressions of China in 1921. His ten chapters about his sightseeing tour in Hangzhou are a precious historical record of the West Lake in terms of history， culture and changes.