湖上笠翁李渔

粟子

杭州西湖侧畔隐匿着这样一群人，只有当我们背对浓妆淡抹的湖光时，才会不经意地与他们的视线相接。他们生活在不同的时代，有着迥异的人生境遇，但最终均愿意留迹西湖。他们似香头一丝烟，散于蔼蔼岚雾，又如笔尖一滴墨，溶于粼粼波影。

繁冗驱人，旧业尽抛尘市里；

湖山招我，全家移入画图中。

这是清代著名小说家、戏剧家李渔写在自己家门上的对联。联中所说湖山就指西湖的湖光山色，李渔与之有着不可分割的关系和情愫。

李渔的祖上在浙江金华兰溪创业已久，家境素饶，因此李渔从小便享受富足生活。由于科举失利，李渔放弃了以仕途腾达为家庭光耀门户这一追求，改走“人间大隐”之道。他自诩“识字农”，学唐人王维，在兰溪夏李村建伊山别业（伊园），欲老死于此。伊园是李渔展示其园林技艺的最初杰作。经他独具匠心的设计和安排，据说这山园之景差可与杭州的湖上园林风光相比。李渔在这里度过了他一生中最为清闲的岁月。

但李渔注定不是一个湮没无闻的乡曲之士，他最终还是来到了杭州。清顺治七年（1650），40岁的李渔从兰溪搬到杭州定居，自题寓名为“武林小筑”。他希望站在风景秀丽的西湖边上，能干出些自己感兴趣的事来，可惜人生地不熟，一家老小的生活全靠他着落。

李渔处在一个劫后余生的时代，黎民百姓需要抚平战争留下的心理创伤，而鼎革之际相对松弛的文网也为他提供了发挥才情的独特空间，那个时代更需要借助他的杰出天赋去开辟一块无人问津的新文化领域，以浸润天下读书士子多愁善感而几近枯焦的心田。于是，李渔硬是靠一支笔，走出了一条前人从未走过的、被时人视为“贱业”的“卖赋糊口”之路，开始了创作生涯。数年间，他连续写出了《怜香伴》《风筝误》《意中缘》《玉搔头》等六部传奇及《无声戏》《十二楼》两部白话短篇小说集。这些通俗文学作品虽被正统文人所不齿、视为末技，但由于通俗易懂，贴近市民生活，寓教于乐，适合观众、读者的欣赏情趣，所以甫一问世，便畅销于市场，被争购一空，不但在杭州坊间一下子打响了名声，而且连南京、苏州也都流传着他的作品。

在《怜香伴》的序中，李渔写道：“传奇十部九相思，道是情痴尚未痴。独有此奇人未传，特翻情局愧填词。”到了56歲，李渔更是组建了私家剧团“李氏家班”，演绎自己的作品，一时锋头凌厉，八面风光，名满宇内，宾朋天下。

已是花甲之年的李渔终于大器晚成。为了便于书籍刊行，李渔举家迁往金陵。只要资金允许，李渔每迁一地，必置产造园，以便利于奔走之后的身心休闲。他的园林设计与戏曲创作两大才能在此时充分地显现出来。他在金陵营建了寓所芥子园，取“芥子虽小，能纳须弥”之意。小小园庭经他精心设计、巧妙安排，倒也别有情趣，有栖云谷、月榭、歌台、浮白轩等诸景，并都题有楹联，成为园林建筑史上较为经典的一个设计案例，其声名也一下子传遍金陵，一些达官贵人纷纷请他设计，并报以高额设计酬金。

李氏家班有台柱子乔、王二姬，被李渔视为红颜知己，可是红颜薄命，两人在正当花季的年龄早逝。李渔痛心疾首，一夜之间好像老了许多。

晚年的时候，李渔的西湖情结再一次涌上心头。他想起儿时曾随母亲路过西湖时，母亲感慨地说：“住在西湖边的人们真有福气啊！”李渔当时便暗下决心，将来一定要在西湖边拥有一幢住宅、赡养母亲。

康熙十五年（1676），66岁的李渔卖掉南京芥子园，告别伤心之地，回到了西湖边上。李渔与西湖似乎有着一种割不断的情愫，不管走到哪里，都会想起或梦见这一湖碧水，老死西湖是他的人生愿望。当再次面对西湖，他再也不想走了，想在西子湖畔度过余生。在友人的帮助下，李渔购买到了杭州云居山一处旧宅，这个半乡半城的居址令李渔尤为满意，他在那里构建了一座园林，并把它命名为“层园”。云居山山坡略陡，树木葱郁，在繁华喧嚣的都市里，它是一个闹中取静的好去处。站在山顶居高临下，繁华的杭州城和美丽的西湖尽收眼底。晚年李渔每日闲步西湖，自号“湖上笠翁”。

搬到杭州不久，因为旅途的颠沛，他大病一场，从此身体每况愈下。李渔卧病期间，一家人忍饥挨饿，忧惧交加，生活清贫不堪。

迁居杭州四年后，在一个大雪纷飞的凌晨，这位在痛并快乐中奔走一生、对艺术执著追求又立志创新的老人与世长辞了。一代文化巨匠李渔走完他人生七十年的历程。李渔死后，被安葬在杭州方家峪莲花峰上、九曜山麓之阳，墓对西湖，实现了他“老将诗骨葬西湖”的夙愿。他生前好友、钱塘县令梁冶湄题其墓碑——“湖上笠翁之墓”，并作《哭笠翁》七绝四首。

300多年过去了，李渔的墓早已不复存在，且也无迹可寻。在20世纪70年代，曾有人撰文称，在杭州云居山麓的一个水池边上看到过一块垫脚的青石，正是李渔之墓碑，之后有人复寻，却再也没有找到。但九曜山、方家峪、莲花峰等可以作证：当年才名震世的湖上笠翁，确确实实长眠在那万绿之中。

The West Lake of Hangzhou has inspired countless souls for the past thousand years. The life stories and sentiments of cultural notables in the old times of China are the blood and flesh of Hangzhous West Lake culture. Their lofty minds and cultural souls are forever lingering in the ethereal landscape， nourishing the life of todays people.

One of the shiny stars in the West Lake cultural “Milky Way” is Li Yu （1610-1680）， also known as Li Liweng.endprint

Born into a rich family in present-day Zhejiang province， the playwright， novelist and publisher lived in the late-Ming and early-Qing dynasties. After failing in passing the higher levels of the imperial examination， Li Yu switched his focus from scholarly fame and riches to garden artistry. His villa in Xiali Village in his hometown in todays Lanxi City， Zhejiang Province， where he spent the most care-free years in his life， was widely recognized as his first garden landscaping masterpiece.

However， Li Yu was born with a restless heart full of whimsical thoughts. He moved to Hangzhou at the age of 40， dreaming to set up a new career and a new life for his family.

Due to the political turmoil of the new dynasty， Li Yu turned to writing for the market， traveling with his own troupe. Despite the fact that he was posthumously acclaimed as one of the few “writer-entrepreneurs” in the old times of China and the “most versatile and enterprising writer of his time”， Li Yu wrote informal essays and “avant-garde” novels which were dismissed as “at his wits end” by the conservatives in his time. However， he was widely read and appreciated by many for his daringly innovative subject matter. Li was also loved for his witty and charming gastronomical writings. In his 40s， his burst of productivity spawned a series of literary masterpieces including six novels and two collections of short stories respectively titled Silent Drama and Errors Caused by the Kite， which remain to date a part of the traditional Kunqu Opera repertoire.

Lis whimsical， satirical approach to serious topics made him a best-selling author of his time. He was also widely read in Suzhou and Jinling （todays Nanjing）.

Li was a wonderful illustration of the Chinese saying “great minds mature slowly”. Turning 60， Li Yu moved to Jinling to pursue his dream in the publishing industry. In those years， his genius in garden design and playwriting reached its peak. However， his content in career success soon gave way to the deep sorrow brought by the untimely death of his two confidantes. He became grey at the temples almost overnight.

His West Lake nostalgia flooded over his mind in his later years. Waves of childhood memories about taking walks by the lake with his mother started to haunt his days and nights. “Those living by the lake are really blessed，” his mother would say in jealousy.endprint

In 1676， 66-year-old Li Yu sold his Mustard Garden in Nanjing. Heart-broken， he settled down by the West Lake to seek solace. It had always been the dream of the man to rest in peace by the lake. With the help of his friends， Li Yu purchased an old house in Yunju Hill and named it Ceng Garden. In his new oasis of serenity， the wound in the heart healed slowly. For Li Yu， the West Lake vista was a spiritual therapy.

Not long after a frustrated Li Yu moved back to Hangzhou， he fell seriously ill due to travel weariness. He never really got back on his feet. His health went from bad to worse for much of his Hangzhou days. He was down and out. His family suffered a lot from destitution.

In the wee hours of a freezing cold day in 1680， which was only four years after he settled down in the soothing lakescape of Hangzhou， Li Yu passed away at the age of 70. The resting place of his restless soul was at Lianhuafeng， Fangjiayu in Hangzhou. The tomb， tucked away at the hillside of Jiuhaoshan， faces the West Lake， with the inscription that includes four seven-character quatrains on the gravestone contributed by Liang Yemei， a lifetime friend of Li Yu.

The gravestone is nowhere to be found in todays Hangzhou， although in the 1970s someone claimed to have seen the tombstone of Li Yus grave by a pond in the citys Yunju Hill area. The discovery turned out to be a flash in the pan， and was never mentioned again. However， the rivers and mountains in Hangzhou will forever be the powerful witness to the life wonders of Li Yu. The playwrights creativity and perseverant pursuit of an artistic lifestyle is still vibrating in the depths of the mesmerizing greenery of the lake shores， forever inspiring and touching.endprint