宋韵:登峰造极的两宋文明(七)
2021-09-06徐吉军
徐吉军
(续上期)
在中国古代数千年的历史长河中,可以说没有一个朝代能与宋代比民富、民乐,宋代是一个生活品质最高的朝代。如果说唐代是一个尚武、鲁直、坚强、组织严明的社会,那么宋代就是一个活泼、重商主义、好享乐的社会。在这一时期,民间的社会财富比前代呈现飞跃性的增长。如宋真宗时期的宰相王旦就自豪地指出:“京城资产百万者至多,十万而上比比皆是。”(李焘《续资治通鉴长编》卷85)唐代人惊艳的华丽器物,到宋代已经是百姓的寻常之物。沈括在《梦溪笔谈》卷14中说道:“唐人作富贵诗,多纪其奉养器服之盛,乃贫眼所惊耳,如贯休《富贵诗》云:‘刻成筝柱雁相挨。此下里鬻弹者皆有之,何足道哉?”嘲笑唐人贫眼,没有见过世面。
统治者也大力鼓吹及时行乐的世界观。宋朝开国皇帝赵匡胤“杯酒释兵权”时,公开对开国功臣们说:“人生如白驹之过隙,所为好富贵者,不过欲多积金钱,厚自娱乐,使子孙无贫乏耳尔……”他以丰厚的赏赐和累世的富贵,要求开国功臣们“多置歌儿舞女,日饮酒相欢,以终其天年”(李焘《续资治通鉴长编》卷2)。从此以后,两宋上层富足权贵奢靡放縱的享受之风一直不衰,并且这种奢靡享乐之风一经沾染,便以迅雷不及掩耳之势自上而下在全民中弥漫幵来,即使是对于绝大多数中下层市民来讲,也充满了致命的诱惑。宋人王栐《燕翼诒谋录》卷2中就有这样的一段记述:“咸平、景德以后,粉饰太平,服用浸侈,不惟士大夫之家崇尚不己,市井闾里以华靡相胜,议者病之。”司马光也说:“宗戚贵臣之家,第宅园圃,服食器用,往往穷天下之珍怪,极一时之鲜明。惟意所欲,无复分限。以豪华相尚,以俭陋相訾。厌常而好新,月异而岁殊。”(《传家集》卷25《论财利疏》)诸如此类的记载,不胜枚举,这正如日本著名宋史研究学者加藤繁在《中国经济史考证》中描述宋人奢靡消费观念时所指出的:“都市制度上的种种限制已经除掉,居民的生活已经颇为自由、放纵,过着享乐的日子。不用说这种变化,是由于都市人口的增加,它的交通商业的繁盛,它的财富的增大,居民的种种欲望强烈起来的缘故。”而法国著名汉学家谢和耐经过对宋代百姓日常生活的深入研究后说:“十三世纪的中国,其现代化的程度是令人吃惊的:在人民日常生活方面,艺术、娱乐、制度、工艺技术各方面,中国是当时世界上首屈一指的国家,其自豪足以认为世界其他各地皆为化外之邦。”
特别是北宋都城开封和南宋都城临安,为当时世界上最大、最富有、最著名的城市,其居民的品质生活,如饮食、茶道、服饰、美容、起居、插花、焚香、收藏、体育活动、休闲旅游以及游乐活动等,体现了宋人的闲情逸致,懂生活,会休闲,讲究生活质量,追求生活品质,是中外诸国的典型代表。富人们在室内豪华陈设、华丽衣着、精美饮食以及各种娱乐、高雅兴致等方面都能得到充分的满足。市中心区有许多专卖奢侈品的商店,来自全国各地以及海外南海各国、印度、中东等国家和地区运来的货物充斥市场。特别是“自大内和宁门外,新路南北,早间珠玉珍异及花果时新海鲜野味奇器天下所无者,悉集于此”(《都城纪胜 · 井市》)。
在饮食上,宋代是中国饮食文化繁荣的时期,在中国饮食发展史上占有举足轻重的地位。这一时期,饮食原料的来源进一步扩大,加工和制作技术也更加成熟。特别是在食品烹饪方面,取得了令人瞩目的成就,从菜肴的用料方面来说,比较突出的是海味菜和鱼菜兴起以及菜点艺术化倾向出现。后世出现的几大菜系,在宋代都已具雏形。饮食业在这一时期打破了坊市分隔的界限,出现了前所未有的繁荣景象,酒楼、茶坊、食店等饮食店肆遍布城乡各地,并流行全日制经营,其经营特色也更加显著。富人们在奢华宴会中一掷千金、寻求快乐的满足成为当时风行的价值观,城市中笙歌处处,宴饮不断。周密《齐东野语》中记载了一次上层社会的豪华晚宴:“酒竞,歌者、乐者无虑数百十人,列行送客。烛光香雾,歌吹杂作,客皆恍然如仙游也。”由于饮食直接关系到人们的身心健康,因此时人还非常重视食品、炊具、饮食器皿等的卫生。茶文化与酒文化,在宋代也有不俗的表现,尤其是茶文化在唐代的基础上又有了进一步的发展,成为一种高雅的文化活动。毫无疑义,这是文明进步的结果。
日趋新异的服饰,迅速突破了封建统治者对贵贱标识的划分。不论是服色、服式,还是腰带、头饰或其他佩件的限制,这些服饰礼仪上的细节,几乎都在富商们与日俱增的狂妄傲慢下,被直接、间接地破坏殆尽了。士民们不仅公然穿着一些被视为违禁衣饰在大街上昂首阔步,而且这些违禁衣饰还开始在市场上公开出售或作为市民们婚嫁时必备的彩礼之一。市民们“衣不肯着布缕绸绢、衲絮缊敝、澣濯补绽之服,必要绮罗绫縠、绞绡靡丽、新鲜华粲、絺缯绘画、时样奇巧、珍贵殊异,务以夸俗而胜人”(阳枋《字溪集》卷9《杂著 · 辨惑》)。服装式样变化无常,人们注重衣装的品质,“男子服带犀玉,妇人涂饰金珠”,城中男女大多数穿着丝绸服装,遍体锦绣,尤其是商家巨贾的妇人们,更是衣着华丽,所佩戴珠宝饰物之多,难以估计其价值。当时妇人们施粉黛花钿,着好衣裳,称“鲜妆帕服”;重视梳妆打扮,称为“修容”。临安人吴自牧则惊呼:“自淳祐年来,衣冠更易,有一等晚年后生,不体旧规,裹奇巾异服,三五成群,斗美夸丽,殊令人厌见,非复旧时淳朴矣。”(《梦粱录》卷18《民俗》)这种消费行为和消费观念上追求奢华的表现,无疑充分展示了宋人追求个性、追求美的精神风采。
在住房、肩舆和日用品方面的奢侈现象,也不亚于服饰和饮食。江少虞《宋朝事实类苑》卷62《杭人好饰门窗什器》说:“杭人素轻夸,好美洁,家有百金,必以大半饰门窗,具什器。”达官富人们对其起居宅第的营建,一掷千金,毫无吝啬。珍贵的沉香木和檀木,远从热带地区运来,以为主梁支柱之用,地板则铺以上釉的瓷砖,甚至有以银片饰成花卉图案镶嵌的。至于屋梁外露部分,皆饰以雕刻,画上华丽的图案。屋檐习用白鹭鸟、龙、凤等陶制动物饰物,檐角上翘,和谐而完美,和周围山林水色相映成趣。住宅不仅装饰华丽,雕梁画栋,里面还陈列了不计其数的名贵饰品、图画和古物。
当人们的物质需求得到一定的满足之后,愈加渴望精神层面上的欢乐享受,希望在丰富多彩的文化娱乐中陶冶情操,得到美的享受,开始注重生活的情调和品质。于是,士庶百姓喜闻乐见的文化娱乐生活亦相应得到了长足的发展。在城市中,既适合宫廷贵族、富商豪民的游玩,又投合于都市小民无聊时休闲娱乐的具有开放性和多样性的市民文化兴起。勾栏瓦肆和歌楼、舞榭、酒馆等作为最具名声的娱乐场所,已经成为两宋都城的金名片。特别是繁盛的勾栏瓦肆作为城市底层民众日常消遣娱乐的大型综合性商业娱乐场所,更为广泛地渗透到了他们的日常生活之中,激发出前所未有的兴趣和热情,成为经济消费和娱乐享受的集散地。东京有大小勾栏50余座,其中最大的可容数千人。临安有大小瓦子23座,其中,南瓦、中瓦、上瓦、下瓦更分别被冠以“衣山衣海、卦山卦海、南山南海、人山人海”(《西湖老人繁胜录》)的别称。瓦舍有固定的演出场地,以勾栏演出为中心,人们每天都可以看到各种戏曲、杂技、歌舞、说唱之类的表演,如:杂剧、杂手伎、弄虫蚁、皮影戏、傀儡戏、鼓子词、诸宫调、舞蹈、小儿相扑、散乐、小说、杂技、大曲、说书、讲史、小唱、說诨话等大众所喜闻乐见的、雅俗共赏的文化娱乐形式,应有尽有。各类民间表演节目花样繁多,精彩纷呈。歌伎乐师等表演艺人在此淋漓尽致地施展自己的艺术才华,各展神通,或以绕梁三日婉转之歌喉,或以柳暗花明讲说之情节,或以捧腹而笑戏谑之言语,或以惊险万分杂耍之表演,给观众从感官到心灵上的震撼与冲击,令人目不暇接、目瞪口呆,让人流连忘返、如痴如醉。另外,瓦子里还出售戏剧糖果和纸画等活动文化商品及其他百货。据考证,幵封和临安瓦肆内的观众数量每天约有“五万人之多”,三教九流、各方人物痴迷于此,以为暇日娱戏排遣之地,他们“不以风雨寒暑,诸棚看人,日日如是;终日居此,不觉抵暮” (见《东京梦华录 · 京瓦伎艺》)。这正如词人柳永笔下的欢阜社会,“玉城金谐舞舜于朝野多欢”“太平时、朝野多欢民康阜”,仿佛生活在一个歌舞升平的世界里。艺术的商业化,不仅丰富了市井百姓的娱乐和休闲生活,同时不断有所创新,产生了新的审美观念,从而影响了前朝历代所承袭的各种传统的表演形式和美学观点,有力地推进了文学艺术的创作和发展。同时,它也导致形式各样的文化娱乐活动的出现,融娱乐与健身于一体的踢球、相扑、武术、弄潮、竞渡、棋类等文体活动,也在宋代风行一时。
琴棋书画、音乐歌舞、鱼虫花鸟等成为一种时尚,成为时人追求精神文化消费的另一个重要风向标,体现出宋人求精致、讲安逸、会休闲的生活特点,也反映了宋代百姓注重生活与劳作结合的特色。特别是到了北宋晚期,“一时人士,相率以成风尚者,章蘸也,花鸟也,竹石也,钟鼎也,图画也。清歌妙舞,狭邪冶游,终日疲役而不知倦”(王夫之《宋论》)。在城市里,音乐已经转向平民化,专门设有一些专供百戏唱游之所,教坊、茶楼等处成为习艺娱乐的场所,经营者教人戏曲、歌唱、演奏乐器。吴自牧《梦粱录》卷16《茶肆》曾一语道破其间的关系:“汴京熟食店张挂名画,所以勾引观者,留连食客。今杭城茶肆亦如之,插四时花,挂名人画,装点店面,四时卖奇茶异汤。……今之茶肆,列花架,安顿奇松异桧等物于其上,装饰店面;敲打响盏歌卖,止用瓷盏漆拓,供卖则无银盂物也。……大凡茶楼多有富室子弟、诸司下直等人会聚,习学乐器、上教曲赚之类,谓之‘挂牌儿。人情茶肆,本非以点茶汤为业,但将此为由多觅茶金耳。”参与音乐活动的阶层广泛,演艺场所多样化,特别是军乐与佛道音乐等的活跃,使音乐活动异彩纷呈,极大地丰富了市民的精神文化生活。鲜花、书画等作为修饰生活环境的重要物品,能起到让人“目不暂舍”的功效,以获得身心的满足、精神的愉悦。在当时,人们对鲜花、书画、书籍等精神文化物品的需求是相当高的,官僚士大夫不再是上述物品消费的唯一主体,更为广大的市民包括农民都已成为消费者,可以说,鲜花、书画、书籍等精神文化物品已经在宋代走进了千家万户。东京大相国寺每月都举行庙会,百货云集,其中就有许多售卖书籍、书画、古玩、珠宝等的摊店;临安夜市也同样有此类物品出售。居民住宅借由鲜花、盆景、名家书画等来表达对生活的祈福,如“而市人门首各设大盆,杂植艾虎、葵花,上挂五色纸钱、排饤果粽。虽贫者亦然” “虽小家无花瓶者,用小坛也插一瓶花供养,盖乡土风俗如此”(周密《武林旧事》卷3《端午》等)。酒楼、茶楼、歌楼等均以悬挂书画、瓶插鲜花等美化店堂,作为吸引顾客的手段。宋代皇帝喜好书画,曾多次派使臣到全国各地访求和购买。例如《宣和画谱》载宋徽宗搜集的6393件作品,其中有相当部分就购自市场和民间。宋高宗对书画也非常热爱。南宋初建,高宗甚至于“干戈扰攘之际,访求法书名画不遗余力。清闲之燕,展玩摹搨不少。怠盖睿好之笃,不惮劳费,故四方争以奉上无虚日”,后又“于榷场购北方遗失之物,故绍兴内府所藏不减宣政”(周密《齐东野语》卷6《绍兴御府书画式》)。在皇帝的影响下,宫廷画家和达官富人们普遍热衷于收藏,高价收购民间的精品供自己观赏,如名家书画、奇石、玉器、古钟铭鼎器、石碑等,并由此产生了众多的鉴赏家。开封、临安等地的市民遇有喜庆宴会和元宵、清明、端午、七夕、除夕等节庆,往往盛行到市场上购买门神、钟馗等年画节日文化用品。
在这一时期,越来越多的精神文化类产品或服务走向市场化,成为社会消费领域中的重要组成部分。随着文化的普及和商品经济的大发展,笔墨纸砚作为重要的文化用品,其商品化的程度已经很高了,生产上具有了产区化、品牌化的特征。而雕版印刷技术的发展,又使书籍、报纸等广为流布和刊印。图书内容广博,教材以外的其他类图书也在这种变革大潮中得到快速发展,如小说、戏曲、野史、评话、堪舆、佛经等都广受欢迎。城镇图书市场相当活跃,商业性书坊、书肆(或称书房、书铺)大量兴起,遍布全国各地。图书数量大幅增加,其售卖方式多样化,价格的制定也符合市场特点,即与产品质量、供求关系及消费偏好相关。正如《四库总目》中说:“宋以后则一切赏心悦目之具,无不勒有成编,图籍于是始众焉。”
与此同时,宋人崇尚游乐,“不特富家巨室为然,虽贫贱之人,亦且对时行乐也”(《梦粱录》卷3《五月(重午附)》)。“不论贫富,游玩琳宫梵宇,竟日不绝。家家饮宴,笑語喧哗。”(《梦粱录》卷1《正月》)在此背景下,旅游之风兴起。举国瞩目、令人心仪的南北两京,自然成为游人向往与追求之地,出现了“游人士庶,车马万数”的簇拥景象。特别是开封的金明池和临安的西湖,更是成为游人的玩享之地。北宋开封,“人烟浩穰,添十数万众不加多,减之不觉少。所谓花阵酒池,香山药海。别有幽坊小巷,燕馆歌楼,举之万数,不欲繁碎”(孟元老《东京梦华录》卷5《民俗》) 。临安同样如此,吴自牧在《梦粱录》卷1《八日祠山圣诞》说:“大抵杭州胜景,全在西湖,他郡无此,更兼仲春景色明媚,花事方殷,正是公子王孙,五陵年少,赏心乐事之时,讵宜虚度?至如贫者,亦解质借兑,带妻挟子,竟日嬉游,不醉不归。此邦风俗,从古而然,至今亦不改也。”进入都城的游人,不仅享受着都城的繁荣盛景,也享受着都城各行各业“百物具备,宾至如归”的高品质服务,这充分反映出宋人生活水平的提高以及对享受美好生活的愿景。需要指出的是,最能体现追求自由、享受“人性”的例子便是两宋都城内女性夜游消遣等行为。史料记载,东京旧曹门街“北山子茶坊,内有仙洞、仙桥,仕女往往夜游,吃茶于彼”“间列舞场歌馆,车马交驰。向晚,贵家妇女纵赏关赌,入场观看,入市店饮宴,惯习成风,不相笑讶。至寒食、冬至三日亦如此。小民虽贫者,亦须新洁衣服,把酒相酬尔”(《东京梦华录》卷2《潘楼东街巷》、卷6《正月》)。毫无疑义,宋代都城女性的这种肆意无羁夜游玩享的行为,是对传统的、保守的封建礼教观念的颠覆,是对人之本性的解放,应值得肯定。当然除上述外,精神享乐消费主体还有博彩、占卜以及一些宗教信仰活动。因限于篇幅,此不赘述。
人们的交往范围已不再局限于与世隔绝的狭窄的小圈里,那种疏于交往的习惯正在得到改变,这便是宋代雅集和会社的兴起。由于城市人口稠密和城中各种商贩士庶人物杂处,大大增加了不同阶层人士交往接触的机会,使他们之间更为息息相关。当时城中有许多社交聚会场所和饮宴休闲玩乐场所,于是种种团体会社的组织,诸如文学、竞技或宗教性质的会社相继出现。其中临安著名的有西湖诗社,它网罗了城中名士和四方流寓儒人竞相赋咏,各逞诗词,对于十二三世纪中国文学艺术的发展颇有影响。此外,军人武士们有弓踏弩社,风流子弟们有蹴鞠打球射水弩社,奉道者有灵宝会,又有锦体社、台阁社、穷富赌钱社、遏云社、女童清音社、苏家巷傀儡社、青果行献时果社……这种名目繁多的会社,为市民提供了众多的社交场所,也创造了广泛的接触机会。
总之,上述的宋人品质生活虽然不能涵盖所有,但基本能代表其水平和发展趋向,即在继承前代的基础上,从物质载体到精神内涵,其内容越来越丰富,水平越来越高,并不断趋于多元化,呈现出一派生机盎然的景象。同时,打破了过去沉闷的思想状态,使整个社会焕发出一种开放、自由、活力、安详且不拘束的时代精神风貌。
(作者系浙江省社科院历史所原所长)
Cultural Splendor of the Song Dynasty (VII)
By Xu Jijun
Throughout Chinese history, no other dynasty arguably can compare with the Song dynasty (960-1279) when it comes to peoples wealth, leisure activities and entertainment. The quality of life during the Song was supposed to be among the highest. While Tang (618-907) is generally seen as warlike, well-organized and disciplined, Song is considered more mercantile, and even hedonic and debauched. As Wang Dan (957-1017), a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong (968-1022), proudly claimed, ”People in the capital city worth millions are many, and those worth tens of thousands uncountable.”
The wares, such as pottery and porcelain vases and mugs, as well as wine cups, that the Tang people saw as resplendent were commonplace items usually found in ordinary Song peoples homes. In his opus Mengxi Bitan, or The Dream Pool Essays, the Song scientist Shen Kuo (1031-1095) said half in earnest and half in jest, “The Tang people composed many poems on how plenty and rich their wares were, simply because they are too poor…Now, even street performers own these items.”
The Song sovereigns would undoubtedly endorse what Shen said. Zhao Kuangyin (927-976), the founding emperor of Song, publicly stated when he infamously “relieved the generals of their power at a feast”, “life is gone with just a spin of a wheel, and for those who aspire to be rich, they simply hope to accumulate more wealth for themselves and their posterities...” He then bestowed rewards and riches worth generations on these generals, and asked them “to buy plenty of dancers, indulge in drinking every day and live happily until the end”.
It is true that Zhao Kuangyins words were primarily intended as a political maneuver, but they also portended what was to come. Thanks to the much freer development of commerce and business, Songs economy was highly advanced. The upper classes in the Song period were invariably avid in their pursuit of pleasure, which later quickly spread among the whole society. Even common people were “extravagant” in their consumption. The French sinologist Jacques Gernet therefore concluded after extensive research on this period: “Thirteen-century China is striking for its modernism…In the spheres of social life, art, amusements, institutions and technology, China was incontestably the most advanced country of the time. She had every right to consider the rest of the world as peopled by mere barbarians.”
In Kaifeng, capital of the Northern Song (960-1127), and Linan (present-day Hangzhou), capital of the Southern Song (1127-1279), two of the worlds largest and richest cities at the time, the leisure and entertainment that local residents were engaging in were so varied, including among others food, tea ceremony, clothing, beauty, living, flower arrangement, incense, collection, sports, travel and games and toys, that they became magnets for neighboring countries and regions. Marco Polo (1254-1324), the Venetian merchant and explorer, famously proclaimed that the city of Hangzhou was “beyond dispute the finest and the noblest in the world”. He marveled that “the number and wealth of the merchants, and the amount of goods that passed through their hands, was so enormous that no man could form a just estimate thereof”.
The Song dynasty was among the most prosperous in food culture. In this period, the sources of food materials were further expanded, and food processing and production technology were further developed. In terms of cooking, remarkable progress had been made, particularly the rise of seafood and fish dishes and the tendency to treat dishes as arts. In fact, it is during the Song that prototypes of the so-called major cuisines of China emerged. Thanks to the collapse of the Fang-Shi (walled ward) System, physical barriers were virtually nonexistent for the catering industry. Restaurants, tea houses, eateries could be found everywhere in the city. Spending heavily on feasts seemed to become a fashion of the day.
The Song people cared as much about clothing and housing as about food. Hierarchies imposed through clothing styles, colors and accessories were rapidly broken as rich merchants binged on clothes used to be the reserve of the aristocrats. The common people followed suit, putting them on publicly with no compunction. People spent even more on their houses. The rich and powerful, in particular, splurged on precious wood, ceramic tiles, rare paintings and antiques when building and decorating their mansions.
When material needs are satisfied, spiritual quests often follow, which, during the Song dynasty, was best shown in peoples leisure activities and cultural pursuits. In Northern Song, Washe, a special area for public entertainment, and Goulan, theatres in the form of fenced-off rings, could be found in every part of the capital city; there were a toal of 50 Goulan in Kaifeng, some able to house up to 1,000 spectators. In Southern Song, as many as 23 Washe were in the capital Linan. Day and night, rain or shine, entertainment and performances would be on. Music, chess, calligraphy and painting — the so-called four arts of Chinese scholars — also flourished, and specialized markets for artworks, antiques and curios, flowers and pet animals (i.e. fish and birds), inkstones, ink brushes, papers and printed books, prospered.
Meanwhile, the Song people also loved traveling. Rich or poor, every day there were a large number of people and families going out journeying. Kaifeng and Linan, the two capital cities, became the natural choices, and Jinming Lake (literally “Golden Bright Lake”) in Kaifeng and the West Lake in Linan were the favorite destinations. One notable development was that women were recorded to live a much freer life, seeking fun on their own at night, drinking and gambling without restraints.
In the final analysis, people in the Song dynasty enjoyed a much richer and diverse life in both the material and the spiritual spheres. Building on the previous dynasties and relying on its economic and commercial development, the whole society glowed with a spirit of openness, freedom, dynamism, serenity and uninhibition.