“彩虹万里百花开，花间蝴蝶成双对。千年万代不分开，梁山伯与祝英台。”这个美丽凄婉的“梁祝”故事，与《白蛇传》《孟姜女》《牛郎织女》并称中国“四大民间传说”，被周恩来总理誉为“东方的罗密欧与朱丽叶”，近日国务院颁文将梁祝传说列入我国国家级非物质文化遗产。
梁祝故事闻名遐迩，誉满全球，但长期来围绕着祝英台的籍贯问题一直纷争不断，一段时期，“把祝英台户口请回娘家来”成了上虞市民的热切期盼。
今年2月16日，上虞人民终于如愿以偿，中国民间文艺家协会正式批文，授予浙江上虞为“中国英台之乡”称号。5月23日，美丽的上虞玉水河畔丝竹声声，彩蝶翩翩，“中国英台之乡”授牌仪式在这里隆重举行。当中共上虞市委书记任其良、市长徐文光从中国民间文艺家协会领导手中接过这块沉甸甸的牌匾时，上虞市民欢声雷动，欣喜异常。
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世界上太凡一部经典作品的诞生，都离不开特独的历史地理环境，尤其是文化的烛照。上虞有着悠久的人文历史，灿烂的古文化，自秦建县以来，名人辈出，造就了光辉灿烂的虞舜文明。
“美哉名区，秀美孕育，达人志士，史不绝书。”这是清代著名学者徐致靖对上虞的赞美。史载：“舜避丹朱于此……舜与诸侯会事讫，因相虞(通‘娱’)乐，故曰上虞。”2200余年来，上虞这片美丽富饶而又充满灵气的土地上，走出了一个个响彻神州的硕贤俊达：远古圣帝虞舜、孟尝李光、唯物大儒王充、炼丹鼻祖魏伯阳、竹林贤士嵇康、一代名相谢安、山水诗人谢运灵、以身尽孝曹娥女等等，以至贞爱情蜚声中外的祝英台，无疑是其中最为浪漫和瑰丽的一朵奇葩。
东晋六朝年间，祝英台出生于上虞祝家庄。自幼聪慧的英台，受到吴越文化中原始的“女权”意识影响，伪为男装求学杭城，路遇会稽同去求学的梁山伯，与之义结金兰。在三年同窗中两人结下了深厚感情，但梁始终不知祝为女子所扮，后梁得真情后赶往祝家求亲，不想先归的英台已许马氏，梁终于忧郁病故。最后，祝英台婚嫁中途经梁墓，地忽自裂，刚烈的英台跳入梁墓，为爱殉情。
故事的梗概原本如此，它最早记载于唐代张读的《宣言志》：“英台，上虞祝氏女，伪为男装游学，与会稽梁山伯者同肄业。山伯，守处仁。祝先归，山伯访之，方知其为女子，怅然若有所失，告其父母求聘；而祝氏已归马氏子矣。山伯后为鄞令，病死，葬贸城西。祝适马氏，舟过墓所，风涛不能进。问之有山伯墓，祝登号恸，地忽自裂陷，祝氏遂并埋焉。”
后来，同样的情节在唐中宗梁载言《十道四蕃志》、宋李茂诚《义宗王庙记》、明邵金彪《祝英台小传》等文中都有所记载。《上虞县志》和好多史书中还有这样的记载：“……事闻于朝，丞相谢安奏封其义妇冢”。作为东晋宰相谢安，专门向皇上写了一个奏本，为一个女子祝英台之墓讨了个“义妇冢”封号，这也是件不寻常的事。
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古往今来，爱情故事可谓车载斗量，恒河沙数，然而要像“梁山伯与祝英台”这则爱情故事那样流传1600多年而不衰，实在屈指可数。更为奇特的是围绕这则故事的地域之争，可谓此起彼伏，一浪高过一浪，它成了中国十分奇特的文化现象。
关于梁祝故事遗存地的历史争论近百年来至少有三次大的风波：早在1930年，广州《民俗》、北京《晨报》、杭州的《民国日报》先后向全国征求梁祝资料和涉及各地地方志中的传说、唱本、戏曲等，以考察梁祝传说的历史发展，故事流变以及地域的传布，于是全国掀起了第一轮梁祝纷争。
越剧《梁祝》1953年春天进中南海，为毛泽东主席和中央领导作专场演出，一下子轰动了全国，接着文化部决定把它拍摄成为我国第一部彩色影片。在剧本的再创作过程中，出现了一个争论不休的难题：祝英台家乡究竟何处?一时众说纷纭，争执四起。华东军政委员会文化部为此专门派人调查，在查阅了大量历史资料后，华东军政委员会文化部得出结论：“祝英台是上虞人”，最后确定了影片的第一句唱词为：“上虞县，祝家庄，玉水河边；有一个，祝英台，才貌双全……”
2002年10月，苏浙两地就梁祝邮票的“发源地”战火再起。因为邮票首发的落地戳，意味着对当地是梁祝故事起源地的认可。不得已，国家邮政局一碗水端平，在其中的四省六地同时首发“民间传说――梁山伯与祝英台”特种邮票，以避免各地争得面红耳赤的局面。
其实关于祝英台的故乡究属何处?大型工具书《中国人名大字典》中有关“祝英台”条目内早已明确写道：“晋・家上虞”。近代著名作家张恨水是一位创作态度相当严谨的学者，他是小说《梁山伯与祝英台》的作者，曾经对“祝英台家乡究属何处”一事作了大量的调查统计，最后结论是：“其间(说祝英台)提到会稽上虞的要占80%”。中国梁祝文化研究会会长周静书也进行了大量的考证，指出：“在中国，至今有梁祝文化遗迹的达几十处，而祝英台故乡也有五处之多。但本人认为从四个方面可以论证，祝英台故乡就在上虞。”
2002年11月，中国民俗学会副理事长、华东师大陈勤建教授来上虞考察后说：“传说中人物总要有一个依附点，祝英台的故事依附点在上虞，一是体现了历史的真实，二是体现了艺术的真实。”
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祝英台故乡浙江上虞丰惠镇祝家庄村，距县城百官7.3公里。
祝家庄以祝姓为主，地处半山区，三面环山，南边有一条清澈的玉水河，与开凿于西晋的四十里河贯通，玉水河既是庄的内河，又是连接外界的主要交通河道。
上虞祝家庄至今尚有一处保护完整的祝氏祖堂，它是上虞市市级文保单位。祖堂内有“纯嘏堂”横匾一块，系清代上虞状元梁国治所题。还有祖堂碑一块，从斑驳的碑面上尚可发现，祝氏一族原籍山西太原，汉代迁居到此定居。祝家庄上还有一对“夫妻树”，高约10米左右，胸径30厘米，在离地1米左右的地方树枝连在一起，仿佛是一对手牵手的情人，当地百姓称之为“连理枝”。
老辈传下一个说法：在100多年以前村中曾有座规模宏大的宅院，唤作员外府第，建有99间气势恢弘的砖雕走马楼，花园内有荷花、九曲桥，栽有金桂、银桂、方柏等奇花异木。后来太平天国闹浙江时，一把火将它全部焚毁。村民祝国忠说：“10多年，邻近几户村民在挖土造房时，还能挖掘出大量被烟火燎过的古代砖瓦。”祝家村86岁的祝莲花说：“因为英台是祝员外的千金，所以早年的玉水河叫做‘千金河’，当年祝英台就是从这条河乘船到杭城读书的，故事从玉水河开始，从此有了‘草桥结拜’、‘十八相送’、‘楼台会’等故事。”如今在祝家庄流传的“梁祝”，至少有五个版本：《九娘钟情梁山伯》《梁祝终生不娶嫁》《千金湖的传说》《聪明伶俐祝九娘》《祝英台自许终身》等。
“梁祝”故事原本有个误区：故事主角为梁山伯，其实真正的主角应当是祝英台。试想在夫权、父权为主而女性完全被排斥在外的封建社会里，一个弱女子要奋力与父母、与封建婚姻作抗争，无论从哪方面讲祝英台都要比梁山伯承受更多的磨难，可以说祝英台是吴越文化孕育出来的一个光彩夺目的中国女性文化符号，勇敢的祝英台是历史上一个不可多得的光辉女性，是中国女性形象的完美代表，具有强烈的现实意义。今天“英台之乡”花落上虞，我们应该共同把这一非物质文化传承好，无愧于先人，对得住后代。
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上虞有关部门和民间组织，眼下正围绕英台文化主题，抓紧征集具有历史、文化和科学价值的梁祝非物质文化遗产实物和资料，制定科学的保护规则，将在更大范围、更多层次、更高档次上对英台文化作广泛有力的传播弘扬工作。当前一个集梁祝文化，融传说、文学、戏曲、表演于一体的“梁祝专题网站”已经建立；为保护挖掘、传承弘扬英台文化的“梁祝文化展室”也已诞生；汇集考古、历史文献的《梁祝文化大观》一书的编纂工作也已启动；与中央电视台联合摄制的40集新编电视连续剧《梁山伯与祝英台》正投入拍摄中。
前不久，上虞祝家庄实业有限公司已正式注册成立，企业家打算投入2.3亿元开发祝家庄风情旅游景区，整个项目控制保护面积达5000亩，建设面积2500亩，将构建历史文化祝家庄、浪漫风情祝家庄、休闲度假祝家庄。项目开发将充分依托英台文化资源，有效利用自然山水资源，建设一个集旅游观光、休闲度假、文化交流、诗意居住于一体的大型旅游景区，真正擦亮“中国英台之乡”这张金名片，使英台文化与经济相融，使英台文化神形兼备，让它更具价值与生命力，以演绎好浪漫的爱情经典，让梁祝文化这一非物质文化遗产世世代代传承下去。
(本文作者为上虞市英台文化研究会会长)
Verdict: Shangyu is Her Home
By Chen Qiuqiang
Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, also known as Butterfly Romance, is a 1,600-year-old Chinese folk story. Decades ago, the late premier Zhou Enlai, while recommending a film adapted from the story to foreign friends, dubbed it as the oriental Romeo and Juliet. Recently, the State Council has designated it as a national intangible cultural heritage. Though the romance is well known all over the country, there have been controversies about where the heroine Zhu Yingtai actually came from. Many a place claims to be the hometown of the brave pretty girl.
Now the verdict is pronounced. The China Folk Artists Association issued an official document On February 16, 2006, recognizing Shangyu of Zhejiang Province as her hometown, putting an end to the century-long controversy.
Shangyu in eastern Zhejiang dates back to more than 2,200 years ago. A land with such a long history surely abounds with cultural heritages. The story about the tragic romance first appeared in a book written in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Over centuries, it evolved. One popular version of the romance goes like this: Zhu Yingtai, a pretty and intelligent girl from a wealthy family in Shangyu, disguised herself as a boy and went to Hangzhou to study in a school, where she met Liang Shanbo. The two became very close to each other. For the three years at school, Liang was never aware that his alter ego was a girl, even though Zhu dropped hints to him here and there, until after she graduated and went back to Shangyu. Liang went to propose to Zhu only to find that, arranged by her family, Zhu had already been engaged to another man. Stricken by the sad news, Liang Shanbo pined away with grief and died later. On her way to her wedding, Zhu passed Liang's tomb. Suddenly, the tomb opened and Zhu jumped into the tomb. Later Liang and Zhu became butterflies and flew away.
In the last 100 years, the controversy over Zhu's hometown flared up three times. The year 1930 first witnessed different claims when newspapers in Hangzhou, Guangzhou and Beijing wanted readers across the country to provide what their local legends and traditional operas, if any, said about the romance.
The legend, after being adapted to Yueju Opera, was staged in Zhongnanhai, Beijing for top leaders in 1953. Afterwards, the Ministry of Culture decided to make a movie on the legend. While playwrights were talking about the script, the controversy came up again. A team was organized to investigate the hometown issue. The final conclusion confirmed that Zhu did come from Shangyu, which was sung in the first libretto of the movie.
However, what a movie said about Zhu's hometown did not deter some people to continue to claim Zhu Yingtai as their beloved hometown beauty. The controversy was sparked for the third time in October, 2002 with the issue of a set of postal stamps in memory of the Butterfly Romance. Both Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces wanted to get the honor of being the first to issue the stamps. Reluctant to get involved in the debate, the China Post decided that the set would be issued in six places in four provinces simultaneously, avoiding heading to another around of controversy.
The 2006 verdict by the association is amply justified by history and academic studies and confirmed by many heavy-weight experts.
Zhujia Village, 7.3 kilometers from Baiguan Town, capital seat of Shangyu Municipality, is where Zhu Yingtai actually came from. Most of the people in the village share the surname Zhu. Today, the village maintains an ancestral temple of the Zhu clan. According to a stone tablet in the temple, the Zhu people in Shangyu first moved there from Taiyuan of northern China's Shangxi Province in the Han Dynasty (206B.C.-220A.D.). Older villagers remember what they heard from their forefathers: there was a grand house with a large garden in the village over 100 years ago. It was burned down when troopers from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (1851-1864) came to the province. In the last ten years, the village residents now and then dug up burned bricks near the place where the house used to stand. And villagers can tell various stories about Zhu Yingtai. Since the verdict, Shangyu is all out to promote the love incarnated. A website devoted to the romance has been set up. A small museum has come into being. Local scholars are putting together a book on the basis of historical materials on the two young lovers. And Shangyu is making a 40-episode television play on the romance in conjunction with CCTV. A business company has been set up to develop tourism resources around the village.
(Translated by David)