隐匿深山的土司城

◇ 文|本刊记者 陈科龙 图| 游 宇

“一方遗址一段历史，千年皇帝万年土司。”为追寻那隐匿在深山的土司城，跟随岁月的脚步，我们在石柱县悦崃镇新城村邂逅了一座古桥。

青石古桥凝结着丝丝墨绿青苔，桥头上断裂的石碑上碑文虽已风化模糊，落款的“大清”二字却足以激起好奇之心，牵引我们打探一段尘封的历史。

“An ancient site rewrites the vicissitudes of history.”With the expectation of pleasure from visiting Tusi ancient city in mountainous regions, we came across an old bridge in Xincheng Village, Yuelai Town, Shizhu Tujia Autonomous County.

The stone-bridge was covered by dark green moss, and the inscription on the broken tablet at bridgehead was blurred by weathering. Yet the word “Da Qing” raised much more curiosity for us to explore the myth of history.

一座古桥连着一座古城An Ancient Bridge Leads to an Ancient City

听着潺潺的流水声，踏着青石板，谁曾料到这古桥竟是数百年前土司留下的驿道。沿着古桥放眼望去，是一片生气盎然的开阔田野。这片身处青山绿水环绕间的地方，便是“古城坝”。

“古城”在哪里？村民马兹昌带我们在一垄垄田畴里找寻古城的记忆。

古城坝东侧的凤凰山脚下，沿着24级石梯拾阶而上，便到了马氏宗祠大门前的小院，两棵古柏树分立大门两侧，挺拔苍翠。已是古稀之年的马兹昌从小生长在这里，也弄不清古树的真实年岁。

“要说马氏宗祠的故事，就得从南宋的马定虎将军说起。”石柱县文史爱好者秦文洲是悦崃人，知道不少掌故。“巴国消亡后，巴人后裔散落在九溪十八峒，也就是如今的渝鄂湘黔交界地带。由于生产力低下，加之生活困顿，他们常常起兵，于是镇守、羁縻、土司等政策应运而生。”

南宋初年，西南苗人叛乱。建炎三年（1129年），宋高宗派陕西扶风郡武将马定虎将军自中原率兵经湖北建始入川，前往九溪十八峒平定苗乱。马定虎将军平定苗乱后，朝廷嘉奖其为石柱安抚司，并由其子孙世袭其职，节制九溪十八峒。

传说在平乱后，马将军带领千军万马路过古城坝，他的战马突然仰天长啸卧地不走，马定虎将军于是将此处作为石柱安抚司的治所，并在此修筑衙署。

Listening to the sound of flowing water and stepping on the flagstone, hardly could we have ever expected the bridge to be the post of transporting supplies and informing military situations centuries ago.Looking over the bridge, there was an exuberant open field, and the place surrounded by green mountains and clear water was branded as“Ancient City Dam (Guchengba)”.

Where was the “Ancient City”? Villager Ma Zichang brought us to pursue the memory of this city in the ridges of farmlands.

At the foot of Phoenix Mountain on the east side of the Guchengba, along the stone ladder with 24 stages, we came to the courtyard in front of Ma’s Ancestral Hall, with two straight and verdant cypresses separated the front door. Ma aged 70 grew up here yet he could not tell the exact age of the tree.

“The story of Ma’s Ancestral Hall dated back to General Ma Dinghu in Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279).” An enthusiast of literature and history named Qin Wenzhou recounted numerous examples of anecdotes. “After the extinction of Ba State, their descendants scattered in Jiuxishibadong, the boundary of Chongqing Municipality, Hubei, Hunan and Guizhou Province. They often rose up because of low productivity and poverty, which facilitated the formation of garrison, regulation and chieftain policies.”

In the early years of Southern Song Dynasty,Hmong (Miao) in the Southwest started rebellion. In the third year of Jianyan (1129), Emperor Gaozong sent General Ma Dinghu to suppress the insurrection. He succeeded and was honored by Gaozong to be pacification commission (or Anfusi), and his descendants were permitted to enjoy inheritance rights.

It was said that General Ma led hordes of troops and horses passing through Guchengba after the chaos. Suddenly, his horse stopped and yelled to the sky.This unusual phenomenon made General Ma feel it destined to make the place as government workplace.

祠堂里的马氏记忆Memories of Ma in Ancestral Hall

传说归传说，如今看来，马定虎将军把安抚司衙署设在古城坝并非心血来潮，而是体现了一位将军对于“扎营”的军事素养。

安抚司的主要职责是养兵，以预防和节制溪峒蛮乱。古城坝外围三面环水，一面靠山，四周群峰环抱，易守难攻。古城坝内地势平坦，稻田千亩，修城驻兵也不愁粮草。此外，这里到县城南宾不出百里，并有川鄂湘古道相通，易于统率军旅。

站在马氏宗祠的小院，听着马氏土司的故事，让人恍惚间有穿越之感。这座建于乾隆五十三年的马氏宗祠，距今已有230年历史，如今依然能在祠堂内外寻见马氏后人凭吊先祖的记忆。

“以前这里还有个内外八字的大朝门，可惜后来被人拆了。”自称土司后裔的马兹昌招手叫我们到小院的右侧，张开手臂比划着以前朝门的位置和形状，“朝门外的24步梯子原来也是在右边，大概20年前被整体搬到了现在的位置。”从老马口中得知，与朝门一同消失的，还有两棵古柏树间一堵高约一丈五的院墙，上面绘有一轮大太阳。

马氏宗祠的大门上还刻有栩栩如生的征战石浮雕，是石柱土司马千乘夫人秦良玉血战浑河的悲壮画面。大门两旁是一副石刻楹联：“世系传之汉朝将军门第，苗裔遗于石柱巨族人家。”说的是，作为汉朝伏波将军马援之后，马氏土司逐渐定居石柱，延续至今。

门楹下表面是一幅石刻的太极阴阳鱼，大门附近还可见引导内院流水的排水设施。环绕马氏宗祠外墙，石头柱基上雕刻着各种花草纹饰。

进入大门便是天井，过天井上七步石梯是供堂，以前供奉有马氏祖先的牌位，如今却已不见踪影。右厢房内，一块《马氏源流碑记》和两块残缺不全的碑刻并排镶嵌在墙壁上。

透过苍劲的笔法，隐约可从石碑上的589个楷体小字中，寻见石柱土司马氏的来龙去脉，亦能感受当年马氏保境安民、平蛮征夷的光辉历史。

Legend was legend. General Ma built Anfusi Department in Guchengba representing a general’s cultivated manner in “choosing military base” instead of prompting by a sudden impulse.

The main responsibility for Anfusi was to maintain and train armies for the defense of chaos in Xidong (areas where southwestern minority people lived). Guchengba, embraced on three sides by green hills and one side by a range of hills, was easy to hold but hard to attack. Inside of Guchengba, plain terrain and extending paddy fields saved the worries of army provisions when building the city and stationing troops. Besides, connected with Sichuan,Hubei and Hunan province, Guchengba was not far away from Nanbin County, making it much easier to control military troops.

A sense of time travel welled up in our heart when standing in the courtyard of Ma’s Ancestral Hall while listening to Tusi’s stories. Built in the 53th year of Emperor Qianlong, the Hall had a history of 230 years. Today, we could still find the traces of mourning Ma’s ancestors.

“There was a magnificent splayed gate, yet it was relentlessly torn down.” Ma, who claimed to be a descendant of Tusi, called us to the right side of the courtyard, trying to reproduce former grandeur of the gate. “The 24-step ladder outside the gate was also on the right and later moved to the present position." It was known from Ma that, together with the gate, the courtyard wall with a bright sunshine on it between two ancient trees also vanished.

The gate of the Hall was also carved with lifelike expedition sculpture, which showed Qin Liangyu,wife of Shizhu Tusi Ma Qiancheng, engaged in the battle of Hun River, solemn and stirring. It was said that since Eastern Han dynasty, General Ma Yuan,also known by his official title General Fubo, Ma’s Tusi continued to settle down here. Until now, we were very lucky to catch a glimpse of it.

The lower surface of the gate was a stonecarved yin-yang fish. Near the gate were facilities used to drain off water in inner courtyard. On the outer wall of the Hall was stone plinth carved with various flowers and patterns.

Entering the gate, we arrived at the courtyard.After crossing the yard, along the 7-step stone ladder, we came to the Hall. Previously there were memorial tablets to worship Ma’s ancestors, but now it is gone. Inside the right wing, two broken tablets and one complete tablet inscribed Ma's origin were inlaid abreast in the wall.

Through the vigorous and bold handwriting,589 Chinese characters on the stone tablet were still faintly visible, from where we could figure out Ma’s origin and could feel Ma’s glorious history of resisting invasion and safeguarding state sovereignty.

地名里的土司古城Tusi Ancient City: Name and History

闲聊间隙，马兹昌从兜里掏出一杆自制的竹柄烟斗，点燃烟斗里的烟叶并深吸了两口，不无遗憾地说，“可惜古城没了。”

古城什么时候被毁如今无人知晓，《石柱县志》上仅有明朝土司马克用将衙署从古城坝搬迁至南宾镇狮子坝的记载。想来，应该是明朝以后的事了。

离开马氏宗祠，马兹昌带我们穿过一条田间小路，来到了古城坝的一处高地。这个如今叫楼脚庄院的地方，身后是百米高的石崖，三面有护城河守护，是马定虎将军当年设立土司衙署的遗址。

每一段历史总会留下痕迹，一如我们在田野间看到的不少石墩、地基石、断壁残垣和考古遗址。除却这些，土司城还以地名的形式昭告世人它的存在。

秦文洲告诉我们，土司衙署东边200米的地方叫“仓楼上”，再往东100米的地方叫“大楼上”，衙署前方约500米的那块大平坝叫“旗竖榜”。这些地名都和土司城有关，“仓楼上”以前是储备粮仓的地方，“大楼上”是以前的官军营房，而“旗竖榜”则就是插旗的地方，是士兵操练演习的场所。

“进古城坝还有一个叫‘下店子’的地方。”“下店子”就是住旅店的意思，外来人员可不是想进城就能进的，都是住在城外的“店子”里，等待召见。

离开古城坝时，古桥在水中的倒影弥散开来，想到脚下的这座石桥也曾被800多年前的马定虎将军踩过，便觉得生出一股格外的豪气。

During our chat, Ma Zichang took out a selfmade bamboo stalk pipe from his pocket. He lit the tobacco leaf in his pipe and inhaled deeply while lamenting for the loss.

It was unknown when the ancient city was destroyed. Yet Shizhu County Annals recorded Tusi Ma Keyong in Ming Dynasty relocated his workplace from Guchengba to Shiziba, Nanbin Town, hence the destruction might date back to the fall of Ming Dynasty.

After leaving the Hall, Ma took us through a field path and came to a highland of Guchengba. This manor was the site of General Ma Dinghu who set his Tusi workplace at the edge of a precipitous cliff with moats on other three sides.

There would always be traces of history, as we saw many stone piers, cornerstones, broken walls and archaeological sites in these fields. In addition to these traces, Tusi City also proclaimed its existence as a place name.

Qin Wenzhou told us that 200 meters to the east of Tusi office was a warehouse for grain reservation,called "Cangloushang". Another 100 meters was"Daloushang" where troops and officials worked and lived. Roughly 500 meters ahead of government office was “Shuqibang”, a place used to insert flags and practice military tactics.

Inside Guchengba, there was a place called Xiadianzi, which means staying in a hotel. Outsiders were not allowed to enter Guchengba, if any, they had to live outside waiting for the call.

When we left Guchengba, the reflection of ancient bridge in the river dispersed. At this moment, I felt so proud when I thought that General Ma Dinghu had also walked on the stone bridge more than 800 years ago.