Foochow,1900

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

福州忠懿閩王祠匆匆行 A Visit to the King of Min Memorial Temple

還是在09年夏天,約好某日下午和GnuDoyng見面,地點就選在了福州閩王祠。因為有事耽擱,4點才從臺江十四橋附近出發,叫了輛的士,上車說:“去閩王祠”,司機:“哪里?”,我:“慶城路閩王祠,鼓樓區那邊”,司機:“慶城路?慶城路是哪里?”,我:“五四路那邊啊”,片刻,司機:“是十九中那邊嗎?那里好像有個什么廟”,我:“Bingo!”終于出發了。(左圖:閩王祠大門)




(左圖:閩王祠前庭後墻) 如今許多人連閩王祠也不認識,多少有些數典忘祖的味道,但就像我常說的那樣:這是一段在近幾十年被遺忘的歷史,即便這就是我們族群自己的歷史。盡管閩人習慣將先祖入閩的歷史追溯到晉代的八姓入閩,但在福建歷史上最輝煌的一次入閩移民潮還是唐末五代時的“十八姓從王”。9世紀末黃巢亂唐之後,中原陷入又一波大規模戰亂,當時光壽兩州(如今的河南固始和安徽壽縣)的兵士在王緒的帶領下,南下轉戰福建,但是由于王緒暴虐,士兵們怨聲載道,秘密擁護軍中品行良好的王潮、王審知兄弟發動兵變,囚禁王緒。王氏兄弟于是就率領兵士民人平定了福建各派勢力,統一全閩,入主閩都福州。這次跟隨王潮、王審知兄弟南下入閩的光壽兵民據說共有十八姓,這便是十八姓從王。王潮去世後,王審知繼而主政,並在909年被後梁冊封為閩王,開創了五代十國中的閩國,這也開啟了真正意義上閩族群的歷史。這個忠懿閩王祠,就是祭祀王審知的祠廟。(右圖:唐代“恩賜瑯琊郡王德政碑”)

慶城路是一條不寬的街道,雖在市中心,交通也不擁擠,車進慶城路,立即就看到一座古建筑紅色的正立面,問都不用問,這就是閩王祠了。雖說王審知是五代時期的人物,這座閩王祠卻是明代所建,不過這個選址確實是選在了五代時王審知舊居故址之上。在抱怨同胞們對本族群歷史漠視的時候,我也沒忘了自己也沒有多乖,因為這也是我第一次拜訪閩王祠,即便我對它其實牽掛已久,一問家住鼓樓區的GnuDoyng,原來他也是第一次造訪這里,那么也好,大家都帶著新鮮感來參觀了。

(左圖:閩王祠正殿) 雖然掛著“閩王祠”這么威風的頭銜,但這座祠堂其實并不大,占地面積為1840平方米,福建比它更大的家族祠堂應當不在少數。閩王祠的正立面,也就是大門,采用的是福州本土祠堂常用的一種大門形式,門墻中間高、兩側低,上為兩端挑起的燕尾脊顶,三個門洞,正門大、兩儀門小,大門上方有“奉旨祀典”碑和“忠懿閩王祠”額,左右儀門上方分別書“报功”、“崇德”。進門就是前庭,整座閩王祠里最古老的物件就在前庭中,就是碑亭里的那座906年的黑色唐代“恩賜瑯琊郡王德政碑”,要知道這祠堂現建筑也不過400來年歷史(1601年),而這方碑比這厝要早了將近700年。從文物價值上可以說這碑比祠貴,閩王祠中的省級文物保護單位不是這祠,而是這碑。(右圖:閩王祠內的王審知像)


(左圖:閩王祠內陳列的閩國宮殿遺物) 前庭那“紹越開疆”後墻後面就是閩王祠的主體——後庭,像所有的福州古典建筑一樣,後庭是由兩側的廂房和正面的正殿圍出一個天井的空間。今天的閩王祠,似乎並沒有祠堂的功能,而純粹是作為一座小型博物館開放的。正殿里除了正中那座王審知雕塑,其余的空間擺放的是各色有意思的文物,比如五代閩王宮建筑遺物(多是瓦當、地磚之類)、王審知妻子尚賢夫人墓志銘和“拜劍臺古跡”碑。不過在描述文物的“閩王宮建筑遺物”牌子上面,我發現了很搞笑的一個細節:吳越國的“國”字竟然被加上了引號,成了:閩亡後,吳越“國”將其拆除。在中國歷史上確確實實存在過的十國之一的吳越國竟然成了吳越“國”,天哪,不知是否是館方草木皆兵、敏感過度了。另外一個有意思的地方是,我在閩王祠并沒有發現福州式古典建筑典型的馬鞍形封火墻,按理說明代的建筑也該有馬頭墻吧,如果這是當時的工匠們考慮到閩王的中原出身以及其年代早于馬頭墻出現的年代,那我倒真的很佩服他們。

由于閩王祠只開放到5點,這次訪問也就匆匆結束,不過由于閩王祠確實很小,這點時間倒也足夠把它參觀得透透的了。其實相比前兩年去過的空無一人的華林寺,閩王祠還是有些游客的。也許這得益於福州市現在大小博物館一律免門票參觀的政策。我不得不說,這是市政府做的一件大好事,不但給福州的文化愛好者們更大的便利,也讓對相關知識不甚了解的民眾們有更多的機會接觸和了解我們自己的歷史和文化。(右圖:搞笑的“吳越‘國’”)



The King of Min
Memorial Temple locates at Qingcheng Road, a less busy road in urban Fuzhou. It was built for commemorate Wang Shenzhi (in Foochow: Wong Sing-di), the founder and the first king of the Kingdom of Min in the 10th century. Wang Shenzhi and his brother Wang Chao (in Foochow: Wong Dieu) were the leaders of immigrants (soldiers and civilians) from Gwangchow (光州, currently Gushi 固始 in Henan Province) and Shouzhou (寿州, currently Shouxian 寿县 in Anhui Province) in Central China to Fujian, to flee the exhausting wars in Central China. The Wang brothers finally united and took full control of the entire land of Min (Fujian) in 893 AD. After Wang Chao's death, Wang Shenzhi took over power and was conferred the King of Min by the emperor of Later Liang in 909. Wang Shenzhi was known as an excellent leader who developed Fujian from a poor frontier region into a highly civilized kingdom, and remembered by many ethnic Min as the Founding King of Min (開閩王).

Although Wang Shenzhi is one of the most important figures in the history of Fujian, his memorial temple is not large – only 1840 square meters (~19800 square ft), even smaller than many family temples found in this area. The temple was built on the site of the former house of Wang Shenzhi, but its current structure was rebuilt in 1601 (Ming Dynasty). Its façade (front gate) is of one typical Foochow style (Eastern Min style), which is higher in the middle and lower at both sides. Behind the façade is the front courtyard, where stands the most precious relic in this temple: the Bestowed Stele for the Merits of King Langya (恩賜瑯琊郡王德政碑
), given by the last Emperor of Tang Dynasty to Wang Shenzhi in 906. The inner court behind the 紹越開疆 wall has a typical traditional Foochow style layout. The main hall behind the atrium is now an exhibition room. Besides the statue of Wang Shenzhi in the middle, you can find fragments from the archaeological site of the 10th century Min Palace and the epitaph of Wang Shenzhi’s wife. The temple is so small that you can finish it less than half an hour, but in my opinion, it is still a must-visit place in Fuzhou for those who seriously want to know the history of Fujian and ethnic Min. In some way, it is a cultural shrine to the Min people, even though many Min today have almost forgot the place.

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