杭州评话,木铎遗风

从杭州评话中感知历史

不久前的一个周末，我去好友家小坐。两人聊得正欢，好友八岁的儿子跑过来说要去“听大书”。我正纳闷，好友笑着说，他们小区附近有一家评书场，儿子最近迷上了听评书，每周都要听一次。评话？我还是小的时候，跟着爷爷听过几次。好友我好奇，便邀我一同前往。

书场门口的预告牌上写着今日的说书人是陈如泉，讲的是《康熙传》。说书人还没到场，已经有了一些听众，不过大都是上了年纪的人。说书场设置比较简单，倒也洁净雅致。一方说书台上有几样简单的道具――一块醒木、一把扇子、一块手绢。

正在环顾间，只见一位身材清瘦、精神矍铄的老人进场上台了，不用说，他就是今天的主角。陈先生上了年纪，但一双眼睛非常有神，丝毫不见龙钟之态。他熟练地换上一身长衫，开说啦。

当天说的是袍带书康熙皇帝“运筹帷幄灭三藩”这段，补笔掩笔、惊人笔倒插笔，陈先生把故事演绎得跌宕起伏。康熙的韬略与霸气、姚启圣的清醒与傲骨、臣僚的奴颜婢膝……他不停地转换角色，用抑扬顿挫的语气、活灵活现的表演，将人物性格刻画得极具感染力。听众在不知不觉之间穿越到历史的时空之中。

这门说话的艺术，在北方称评书，在南方称评话，出现于唐代，流行于两宋之际，实际成型于明末清初。杭州评话起源于南宋，已有八百多年历史，当时钱塘文人吴自牧《梦粱录》有过较详细的记载。事实上，如《三国演义》《水浒传》最初都是说话的话本：《全相平话三国志》《醉翁谈录》；这两部名著的作者、移籍杭州的罗贯中和施耐庵，也曾在临安瓦舍勾栏里说话。

杭州评话对小说、对戏曲的发展有很大影响。杭州中瓦子张家书铺刊印的说经话本《大唐三藏取经诗话》《西湖三塔记》，前者已具今本《西游记》的雏形，后者则为后世的《白蛇传》提供了蓝本。这些说书故事，也成为很多戏曲的题材。

从简单中体会艺术魅力

我曾经听我的老师说起，他有一本由杭州评话名家茅赛云先生说的“大书”、经杭州大学中文系讲授明清小说的刘操南先生整理、两人共同署名著作出版的《武松演义》。起初，我对这“说话”不在意，后来偶然记起，明白了老师的意思：记下口述的世俗艺术或文学，也能留住社会、生活、文化甚或政治、经济的多重资料，历史便不会冰凉。

杭州评话延续久远，大约在清末民初时达于鼎盛。当时，艺人发起成立评话温古社，社员达百余人。抗战时期，杭州评话衰败下去。新中国成立后，杭州曲艺团兼容评话，集聚众多名家，茅赛云先生即为其中之一。

杭州评话俗称“大书”，用杭州方言表演，评说历史、讲述故事，贴近百姓、贴近生活，富有浓郁的地方特色，是杭州世风民俗的最好摹本之一。

本来，说大书的艺人只坐着说表，用扇子、手绢做道具，以醒木拍桌来加强气氛。后来，也有艺人站着表演，以说、评、演三者相融合为艺术特色，讲究口、眼、身、法、步、神结合，只用一人、一桌、一扇、一醒木即可，虽然表演形式十分简单，但描述入微、渲染有方、活灵活现，紧扣观众心弦。

说大书并不容易，所谓生旦净末丑，眼神、表情、声音、身姿都要到位。没有亲耳听过说书的人，也许会感到诧异，一个人是如何扮演那么多的角色、不同角色的不同特点如何表现、如何呈现书中或细微、或紧张、或惊险、或壮阔的各种场景？

评话（评书）是说话的艺术，表现的奥秘便是声音。艺人通过声音的“化妆”来表现男男女女、老老少少的布衣平民、帝王将相、侠客隐士、僧道名流在不同场景中的不同状态、不同心境。另外，加上道具的配合，艺人站在高台之上，时坐时立，抚尺一拍便成时光隧道，扇子一挥即可运筹帷幄，腿脚一摆就是千军万马，手绢一展即是圣旨、军令状、家信，眉飞色舞、谈笑风生间可大浪淘尽风流人物，尽现历史沧桑、风云变幻。

从柳敬亭想象说大书

四百年前左右，有一个叫柳敬亭的人浪迹江湖，“说话”的声名远近播扬。他曾北上京城献艺，后来有人追寻至金陵拜他为师，回到北方开评书一派。这个柳敬亭也到过繁盛之地扬州和杭州、绍兴。

长期寓居杭城的山阴人、明遗民作家张岱在《陶庵梦忆》中记录过南京评话名家柳敬亭受邀至缙绅人家说书，“每至丙夜，拭桌剪灯，素瓷静递，款款言之，其疾徐轻重，吞吐抑扬，入情入理、入筋入骨”，“主人必屏息静坐，倾耳听之”。张岱举柳敬亭讲“景阳冈武松打虎”白文，说，柳书与《水浒传》中描述并不相同，“其描写刻画，微入毫发，然又找截干净，并不唠叨”，说到书的筋节处，则叱咤叫喊，势如潮头汹涌可以崩坍屋子。

与张岱同时的闻人、海宁朱一是非常佩服柳书的语言魅力，作下《听柳生敬亭词话》一诗：“突兀一声震云霄，明珠万斛错落摇，似断忽续势缥缈，才歌转泣气萧条。檐下猝听风雨入，眼前又睹鬼神立。荡荡波涛瀚海回，林林兵甲昆阳集。座客惊闻色无主，欲为赞叹词莫吐”，对轻重缓急制造气氛，以形象化的手法写人、状物，细致形容描摹。

柳书的特点是善于在书词中补充社会生活，把自己的经历、见闻、爱憎融于书中，这在晚明以来时代骤变的环境中颇受人欢迎。柳敬亭在江浙一带行走，与众多在历史上留名的达官显宦、文人学士甚至秦淮名妓有接触、往来，或被引为上宾，别人为他留下的诗、文、词多达八十余章，是很特殊的。

文史大家、余姚黄宗羲以正统史家的观点及笔法撰有《柳敬亭传》，评曰：“敬亭既在军中久，其豪猾大侠、杀人亡命、流离遇合、破家失国之事，无不身亲见之。且五方土音，乡俗好尚，习见习闻。每发一声，使人闻之，或如刀剑铁骑，飒然浮空；或如风号雨泣，鸟悲兽骇。亡国之恨顿生，檀板之声无色，有非莫生之言可尽者矣。”

柳敬亭在说书中形成的这些特点，一直为包括杭州评话界在内的后世评话艺人所仿效。读上面诗文，可以想象杭州评话艺术之一二。

从“书迷”到“书者”

记得我读研那会儿，一次联欢会上，一位女生叫李潇树，表演扬州评话，学说的好像是王少堂先生的“武十回”中的一段，真有“艳惊四座”的表现，俨如当年的连丽如、刘兰芳。离开校园这么久，我始终记得她――当时那飞扬的青春、空气中洋溢的热烈和欢愉。李同学说书说得和她人一样爽朗、漂亮，时收时放着一把折扇，在嬉笑怒骂间指点、挥斥，就像年少时的一个梦。

可惜，评话（评书）如今越来越成为一种小众的艺术。听说，陈如泉先生深深感叹，杭州评话到他这一代可能就要断掉。

许多杭州市民从小听着杭州评话长大。新中国成立后杭州成立曲艺团，评话温古社并入；五十年代，杭州评话鼎盛时，杭州的茶馆大都有说大书：有选择长靠、短打、官带的，也有移植创作现代小说新的。八十年代，重新再说大书，大书先生肚子里的故事是大多数人的消遣，并成为社会上茶余饭后的热点谈资。后来，随着文化内容的拓延、娱乐方式的多样，杭州评话渐渐式微，竟被列入浙江省、杭州市非物质文化遗产名录，需要保护，需要传承。

评话（评书）诞生、发展于生活节奏缓慢的封建农业社会里以商业、手工业经济为基础的城市之中，衰落的过程是古典世俗生活的必然消亡。一门艺术，曾经丰富过人们的精神、心灵和人生便足矣，正如老舍先生的小说《断魂枪》揭示过的深刻的社会历史意义――曾经存在，便会消亡，但还会有新生，这是规律。

评话（评书）虽然是小众艺术，不过依然有人很执著地喜爱这门艺术，因为很多说书艺人，最早都是从“书迷”开始的，比如陈先生，儿时家里人常抱着他去隔壁茶馆听书，耳濡目染，他爱上了曲艺，并决定做一位说书人，父母便送他去拜师，从此开始了五十多年的说书生涯。

最近听说，杭州评话出了个90后小伙胡达，是百姓书场最年轻的大书先生。他纯粹因为喜欢――喜欢到听一遍就能记个十之八九――而入了这行，既有传承也有创新。

杭州评话，有一些忠实的书迷，和说书先生一起守着这方简单而魅力独具的方台。

Hangzhou Storytelling of Yesterday and Today

By Pang Ru

Storytelling is an ancient art in China. In the north， it is largely known as Pingshu and in the south， Pinghua. Usually it is one storyteller who performs the storytelling. A story sometimes has so many daily episodes that a complete storytelling goes for months. The prototype originated in the Tang Dynasty （618-907） and became popular in the Song （960-1279）. The art came to Hangzhou in the years of the Southern Song （1127-1279）， as described in detail in a 20-volumed book titled by a Hangzhou native named Wu Zimu. In fact， classical novels such as by Luo Guanzhong and by Shi Nai’an were originally scripts for storytelling. History indicates that the authors respectively performed the stories from their masterpieces at storytelling theaters of Hangzhou. History records that many scripts used by storytellers in ancient Hangzhou later fleshed out into novels and opera plays such as and .

Although the tradition of storytelling in Hangzhou goes back to the Southern Song over eight hundred years ago， the tradition flourished in the last decades of the Qing （1644-1911） and the decades of the Republic of China （1911-1949）. The city’s storytellers association set up back then had more than one hundred members. The tradition declined during World War Two. After the birth of New China， some best traditional storytellers were employed by the city’s ballad-singers troupe.

Hangzhou Pinghua is performed in the Hangzhou dialect. Stories cover people and events of yesteryears and life of today. The art is very regional and very grassroots. It vividly reflects the grassroots life of Hangzhou. Originally， a storyteller sits talking and performing by a table. On the table are a fan and a handkerchief， and a small wood piece that works like a gavel for silence and attention. The fan and the handkerchief are used occasionally to assist the storytelling. As the art evolved， some storytellers began to stand performing. A standing storyteller can move around the table， getting much more room to act out details of a story. Those who have never watched a Hangzhou Pinghua artist tell a story would never fully understand how he magically transforms himself into different characters， and how his voice and facial expressions change dramatically， and how his postures and gestures help add a wonder touch to the storytelling itself.

Liu Jingting （1587-1670） was a celebrated storyteller of his time. He performed in Yangzhou， Hangzhou and Jinling （the present-day Nanjing） and was a master storyteller. He made friends with high-ranking government officials and businesspeople and scholars. Scholars who attended his storytelling wrote essays and poems about his virtuosity and these essays and poems can still be read today. He acted vividly and he mingled his storytelling with comments and descriptions from the everyday life his audience could relate to. His style has influenced storytellers of Hangzhou.

In the 1950s， Hangzhou Pinghua was very much alive. Artists performed in teahouses and small storytelling theaters. Going to a storytelling session in a teahouse was part of everyday life for many local residents. The storytelling made a big and brief comeback in the 1980s. It began to decline again in the 1990s， overwhelmed and replaced by new forms of entertainment.

Hangzhou Pinghua is a minor art form. It still attracts some loyal followers. Some storytellers themselves were first audience members themselves. Chen Ruquan， a storyteller， now performs regularly at a small theater. As a boy， he got hooked by the storytelling at the teahouse next door to his home. He dreamed of becoming a storyteller himself. His parents thought it a good idea. So he was sent to a master to learn the storytelling. He has been in this business for more than 50 years now.

The youngest storyteller in Hangzhou is Hu Da， a man born in the 1990s. He has taken the tradition on simply because he loves it. He can retell a story in the storytelling manner after hearing it only once. And the young storyteller is bringing innovation into the ancient entertainment.

Hangzhou Pinghua is alive at present. It will not be a mass entertainment. But it still attracts a small group of people to learn the art and maintains a small group of audience who come to the show royally and regularly.