在三衢山寻找三衢石

●鲁晓敏



在三衢山寻找三衢石

●鲁晓敏

三衢石林·天坑 汪晓峰 摄Rock Forest and Tiankeng at Sanqu Mountain

从浙江常山县城出发，不过半个多小时的车程就到达了三衢山。远观三衢山，外貌并无奇伟之象，山脚不时有山涧交错，水声潺潺，山道贴着灌木丛向上伸展旋转，仿佛一条飘带在蓬蓬松松的树丛中穿梭，山道两侧开出密密匝匝的花朵，吐出纯白、淡黄、棕红、绯红的色彩。渐行渐高，一堆堆、一丛丛、一群群类似于太湖石的石头自上而下、由远及近、挤挤挨挨地塞满了整座山脉。大小不一、峥嵘嶙峋的石头构成炫目的石头阵，大者以气势取胜，小者以形态、色泽、纹理夺目。而令人印象深刻的是，这些裸露的岩石皆成奇特的形状，它们或嵌在悬崖上摇摇欲坠，或如飞禽走兽动态十足，或如自然山势绵延起伏……

说起中国的喀斯特地貌，我们立即会想到广西桂林和云南石林，或者想起贵州溶洞和重庆天坑，我所知的喀斯特地貌大多处于大西南，想不到在浙江省常山县也隐藏着庞大的喀斯特石林，总面积达到了二十多平方公里，其盛景堪比同类翘楚的云南石林。与云南石林的岩溶地貌不同，三衢山的岩溶宏观特征主要是峰丛和岩溶凹地，微观特征是石芽和溶沟，形态上表现为各种动物、城堡、长廊、天生桥等组成的石林。

弯弯曲曲的上山道路两侧，大大小小的石头，远远近近地站着，有的在相互聆听，有的在俯首接耳，有的犬牙交错。神奇的是，山坡上盘踞着一块奇异的石头，如同一只威风凛凛的猛狮，面对绵延群山引颈嘶吼，透着睥睨天下的王气。石芽和溶沟形成了各种异兽珍禽，有如长龙、猛虎、海豹、巨鳄、黑鲸、卧龟、灵猴、飞鸟……我捡起一块石头，一路敲击着各种石柱，各种声音回响在山道上。

穿过一道狭长、弯曲、逼仄的石巷，两块几层楼高的巨石阻塞着前进的道路，两块巨石间留出一条缝隙，形成了“一线天”景观，最窄处只容单人侧身挪过。峰回路转，再穿过一条葳蕤高树组成的绿色隧道，出现一座平台。哪里才是石头终点呢？正在狐疑之间，我已快步登入平台。顷刻间，山体在我面前仿佛突然坍塌了下去。这里就是三衢山最精彩的区域—天坑。十几米到几十米高的落差形成了规模宏大的漏斗，四周岩壁陡峭，坑中密集地分布着各种形状的石头，或起伏，或交错，或横卧，或挺立，峥嵘毕现，古藤石林交柯纠结。峰峰相连，谷谷相抱，石石相交，这是一次石头的盛会。我从来没有见过那么多奇形怪状的石头。阳光渐渐猛烈，金光灿灿，落在白花花的石头上反射出坚硬的光亮，显现出石头雍容华贵的气质。

“三衢石”如此景观躲在四省通衢之处少有人识，独独固守着那片属于自己的宁静。

三衢石是如何产生的呢？我请教了南京古生物所著名的地质专家张元动，他告诉我：“三衢石与太湖石为同一个石种，属于石灰岩的一种，是在岩溶作用下形成的碳酸盐岩，经过亿万年的日晒雨淋、山水冲刷、泥土侵蚀后，逐渐形成了千姿百态的形状。三衢石具有廋、漏、透、皱的外形，也具有涡、沟、环、洞的变化，因外形和质地与太湖石非常相似，又称常山太湖石。”

据专家考证，4.6亿年前，常山尚是一片蔚蓝色的大海，生活着丰富的藻类及珊瑚等动植物，随着地球运动，地壳的演变，河床逐渐抬高，这里形成陆地，原本生活在海洋里的生物遗体伴随着沉积物一起硬结石化成岩石，这些不同时代堆叠的岩石呈层状。最为珍贵的是，国内4.5亿年的生物礁目前只在三衢山发现。今天，在三衢山可以随意找到各种生物化石，其中以笔石化石、牙形刺生物化石、腕足类生物化石、三叶虫生物化石为著。这些海泽的灵魂依附在石头上，展现出亿万年前的灵动身姿，留下了苍老旷古时光的痕迹。

平时看到的太湖石多点缀在园林之中，作为石柱、假山、孤峰来衬托园林。眼前几十平方公里的三衢石涌来眼底，千姿百态的奇石在此聚会，它们集中呈现在眼前，尽现大自然的鬼斧神工。

三衢石有灰白、土红色、橘红色、土黄色、青灰色、黑灰色，色泽变化多端；三衢石多密集的小孔穴而少有大洞，体态嶙峋，质地坚硬，或玲珑剔透，或灵秀飘逸，或浑穆古朴，形态变化无穷。三衢石是喀斯特石林的一种，呈现分离的石柱或剑状石芽，但是石头的基座相连，因此出现了成片的逶迤的峰丛，气势威严壮丽。

天坑仙境An ethereal moment at the Tiankeng at Sanqu Mountain

既然三衢石与太湖石为同一个石种，又具有自己的特色，为何知名度和文化地位差距如此之悬殊呢？

与轻巧清秀的太湖石相比，三衢石体积庞大，浑厚雄壮，一般都在数千或上万斤，甚至数十吨、数百吨。从山上开采搬运到山下，再从偏远的三衢山运送到千里迢迢之外的京城，对于缺乏起重设施、运输工具的古人来说，是一项遥不可及的浩大工程；太湖石体积相对小，产自太湖周边的丘陵或者埋封在地下，开采便利，水路运输便捷。高昂的开采成本和运输成本，决定了三衢石只有极少的面世数量，也就让它偏离了主流的认知轨道；太湖石地处中国文化最为发达的江南核心区，经过历代文人雅士笔墨的推波助澜，逐渐坐稳了天下第一奇石的宝座。与此同时，属于太湖石同一类型的三衢石林竟在人们眼皮底下整整隐藏千年，典籍中也无记载。

2007年，33块形质优良的三衢石运抵北京，这些奇绝的三衢石一矗立在奥运会场馆外，立刻引起了巨大的轰动。三衢石就此揭开了蒙在身上的千年面纱，让世人知晓世上还有可与太湖石相媲美的三衢石。

Nirvarna of Sanqu Rocks

By Lu Xiaomin

Sanqu Mountain is only about half an hour’s drive from the county seat of Changshan, in Quzhou. Viewed from the distance, the mountain has nothing particularly eye-catching. The snaking path leading to the top of the mountain is flanked by lush groves and flowers racing to bloom. Driving into the depths of the mountain, the mountain’s karst landform opens up in dazzling grandeur.

In China, the most typical karst landscape, formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks and characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes, dolines, and caves, is stereotypically related to Guilin, Yunnan, Guizhou and Chongqing. The great injustice is that the sprawling karst world in a small county in southwestern Zhejiang Province is known by very few. The spectacular karst landscape there, however, qualifies as a rival to the world-famous Stone Forest in Yunnan, with the former featuring a high concentration of peak clusters and karst valleys that present an exceptionally large variety of large-or small-scale features both on the surface and beneath.

天生桥下壮观的石林 汪晓峰 摄Rock Forest under the Natural Bridge

The karstified rock formations are full of life. Some look like they are listening to each other’s whispers; some are interlocking to produce rough, menacing dentations. One of the weird-looking rocks, sitting imposingly at the mountainside, reminds one of a majestic male lion growling towards the undulating mountain ranges in the distance, as if to announce to the world that he is ready to win a duel.

Passing a long and cramped rock lane, the landform changes into a megalithic scene that presents an awe-inspiring spectacle commonly known as ‘yi xian tian’ (a think strip of sky). At its narrowest point, there is barely enough space for one person to pass through sideways. Behind the formidable chasm is a brand new world of refreshing fauna and flora that leads to an observation terrace where one can take a closer look at the ‘sky hole’ or Tiankengthe biggest highlight of the scenic Sanqushan Mountain. The tear-inducing fall creates a gigantic ‘stone funnel’, with the concave packed with rocks of all kinds of grotesque shapes. The afternoon sunshine casts down, falling on the glistening stones. The glaring reflection of the sunlight adds to the aristocratic grace of the huge rocks.

Geological study has proved that the stones at Sanqu Mountain, often referred to as ‘Sanqu Rocks’, fall into the limestone family, just like the Taihu Lake Rock. The karstification of the carbonate rocks that took billions of years produced the special features of the stones.

Archeologists have good reasons to believe that today’s Changshan was a world of sea about 460 million years ago. Changshan is a key area for the geological and archeological exploration of the Paleozoic Era of southern China regions. Sanqu Mountain is also the only place in China to look into the 450-million-year-old organic reef. In the rich reserve of biological fossils in Sanqu Mountain, the souls of marine organism in the remote times are still alive, inviting today’s people to identify ancestors and trace their biological roots.

Strictly speaking, Sanqu Rock represents one sub-category of what’s known as the ‘karst stone forest’, characteristic of thin stalagnates towering into the sky and sword-shaped clints interlinked at the bottom. Compared with the more famous and exquisite Taihu Lake Rock, Sanqu Rock is a lot bulkier. Such natural hugeness was beyond the transportation capability of people in ancient times of China, which partly accounts for the long-time obscurity of this geoglogical wonder while Taihu Lake Rock has been used in the best gardens across the country for centuries. The location of the Taihu Lake area in the core zone of ‘Jiangnan’ and the eulogizing from generations of men of letters also contributed a lot to the fame of the Taihu Lake Rock, whilst the stone forest at Sanqushan was ignored for thousands of years by the mainstream society until the wonderland crafted by crustal movements made its sensational debut at the Bird’s Nest in Beijing as the long-lost brother of the Taihu Lake Rock in 2007.

三衢雄狮 汪晓峰 摄This rock formation in Sanqu Mountain looks like a lion.

天生石梁横架空中A stone beam stretches across the sky.