2．臨安最盛南宋時

2．臨安最盛南宋時

在杭州的歷史上，最為燦爛的一段莫過于南宋，那時的杭州建筑精美、商業(yè)發(fā)達(dá)、文化繁榮。也就是從南宋開始，杭州這個美麗的地方才被人們比喻為人間天堂。

南宋初年，逃避戰(zhàn)亂的宋高宗在到杭州之后，改杭州為臨安府，后又定都臨安。

南宋初期，由于中原戰(zhàn)亂和朝廷的南遷，北方的人們大量向南遷移，他們主要來到浙江一帶，而杭州更是南遷人們的最大集中地。杭州城的居民從最初的不過10余萬戶壯大到26萬戶，計(jì)55萬余人，到南宋末年，全城的人口已經(jīng)超過百萬，是全國的第一大城市。

南宋朝廷大興土木，把皇宮建在鳳凰山，王城北起鳳山門，西到萬松嶺，東到候潮門，南到江干。從朝天門向北，即今天的中山路和中山北路，當(dāng)時是一條用石板鋪成的、長達(dá)“一萬三千多尺”的御街。此外還有大量的坊巷和市集。御街以東，是南北縱貫與御街平行的市河。市河以東，又有與市河平行的鹽橋運(yùn)河。市河與鹽橋運(yùn)河最后又在南部溝通，向南直達(dá)錢塘江邊，向北則直接與江南運(yùn)河及整個太湖流域的河湖網(wǎng)相連。像這樣縱橫交錯的街道和河渠，構(gòu)成了南宋杭州城市的整個布局。

隨著城市人口的增多，杭州的商業(yè)空前繁榮，出現(xiàn)了三大商業(yè)中心。在南宋杭州的服務(wù)性行業(yè)中，“瓦市”特別發(fā)達(dá)。瓦市是一種民間娛樂場所。當(dāng)時杭州城內(nèi)最大的瓦市有5處，即今青河坊附近的南瓦，今惠民街的中瓦，今羊壩頭的瓦大瓦（上瓦），今眾安橋的北瓦，今慶春橋的蒲橋瓦（東瓦），其中以北瓦的規(guī)模最大。一個瓦市內(nèi)又分成若干“勾欄”，每個勾欄都有各流名角主演不同種類的曲藝或戲劇，日夜不停。除了城內(nèi)的瓦市外，城郊也有許多瓦市，如候潮門瓦、薦橋門瓦等，共有20處。所有瓦市附近，都是店鋪林立、商業(yè)繁榮的地方。當(dāng)時杭州的海外貿(mào)易也很發(fā)達(dá)，杭州灣內(nèi)聚集著大量的巨形船舶，有從各個地方運(yùn)來的貨物。作為南宋的都城，外國使節(jié)的往來也絡(luò)繹不絕，他們與南宋王朝之間的進(jìn)奉和回贈，實(shí)際上也是一種變相的官方貿(mào)易。

隨著經(jīng)濟(jì)的發(fā)展，杭州的文化教育事業(yè)也呈現(xiàn)出欣欣向榮的景象。早在北宋時，杭州已經(jīng)是全國三大刻書中心之一。南宋初年，朝廷下令刻的經(jīng)史子集數(shù)萬卷，作為范本，所刻的書被稱為“監(jiān)本”，這些“監(jiān)本”之中，就有一半在杭州刊印。司馬光的巨著《資治通鑒》就是先在臨安雕版印刷發(fā)行的。后來，杭州的印刷出版業(yè)居于全國首位，城內(nèi)外有名字可查的書坊就有二十多家，鐘家鋪刻印的《文選五官注》至今仍保存在國家圖書館，被認(rèn)為是雕刻珍品。當(dāng)時杭州刊印的書籍，字體工整，刀法嫻熟，紙質(zhì)堅(jiān)白，墨色清香，被古今的學(xué)者們一致稱贊。至今仍保存著的南宋杭刻書籍，都是中國宋版書的精華，是珍貴的文化遺產(chǎn)。

南宋的教育也很發(fā)達(dá)。當(dāng)時，朝廷在杭州創(chuàng)辦的學(xué)校有太學(xué)、武學(xué)和宗學(xué)三種，合稱三學(xué)。其中的太學(xué)是當(dāng)時中國最高的學(xué)府，設(shè)置在紀(jì)家橋以東，規(guī)模宏偉，房舍寬敞。學(xué)生按程度分上舍、內(nèi)舍和外舍三個等級，學(xué)生最多時達(dá)到1700多人，一切費(fèi)用全由國家供給。此外，在凌家橋設(shè)有臨安府學(xué)，在錢塘、仁和兩個縣的縣衙附近設(shè)有縣學(xué)，在通江橋設(shè)有醫(yī)學(xué)，專門培養(yǎng)醫(yī)藥人才。在這些學(xué)校以下，還有為數(shù)眾多的鄉(xiāng)校、家塾、舍館、書會等。杭州的每一里巷，都有這類的學(xué)校至少一兩所。由此可見當(dāng)時杭州文風(fēng)之發(fā)達(dá)。

隨著杭州城市的發(fā)展，西湖的面貌在南宋也有很大的改變。白居易和蘇東坡為了農(nóng)田灌溉和城市供水，對西湖進(jìn)行了整治，為西湖的治理作出了貢獻(xiàn)。南宋建都以后，西湖從一個水庫變成了風(fēng)景區(qū)，人們把它當(dāng)作大公園，而且還沿湖興建了大量的亭臺、樓閣、寺廟，增添了許多金碧輝煌的人工雕琢，于是，西湖就出現(xiàn)了游客如云、歌舞遍地的局面?，F(xiàn)在西湖的布局就是那個時候形成的。

南宋著名的詩人范成大在《吳郡志》中第一次用了“天上天堂，地下蘇杭”的贊語，這句話后來又被人們改為更為通俗的“上有天堂，下有蘇杭”的言語，至今仍然廣為流傳。杭州從南宋時開始被比喻為天堂，這說明了當(dāng)時城市的繁榮和西湖的美麗。

2. Hangzhou in Southern Song Dynasty

In history, Hangzhou was most brilliant in the Southern Song dynasty. Elegant buildings, busy commercial markets and colorful cultural activities all helped to build Hangzhou into "a paradise on the earth".

In the early years of Southern Song, tortured so much by years of wars and encouraged by the southward move of the central government, a mass of northerners started a southward movement. Most of them finally settled down in today's Zhejiang and Hangzhou was a major destination. As a result, population in Hangzhou jumped from less than 100,000 households to 260,000 households or 550,000 if counted by person. By the end of Southern Song, Hangzhou became the country's biggest city with a population of more than one million.

The royal court of the Southern Song dynasty ordered a number of constructions including the Imperial Palace which rested on the Phoenix Mountain and the Imperial city which extended to Fengshan Gate in the north, Jianggan in the South, Houchao Gate in the east and Wangsong Hill in the west. Starting from Chaotian Gate or today's Zhongshan Road and Zhongshan North Road, a south-to-north imperial street paved with flagstones stretched more than 13,000 chi (about 4,333 meters). To the east of the imperial street were an inner-city river and a salt transporting canal which were parallel to the street. In the north, the river and the canal met the Grand Canal and other lakes in the Taihu Lake area; in the south, the two converged and flew into the Qiantang River. In addition to the water network, the city had a crisscross network of streets with all kinds of workshops and fairs dotting here and there.

An increasing population boosted the development of commerce and the city entered an unprecedented boom. As a result, three commercial centers took shape. In the service industry, there gradually formed a kind of civilian entertainment market which was called "washi" in Chinese. So popular among the common people that there were five super washi within the imperial city and twenty others more outside. Inside a washi, there were popular actors and actresses singing and performing Chinese dramas of different schools all day and all night long; outside, there stood shops of different kinds in a great number. Foreign trade entered a boom, too. Inside Hangzhou Bay, there anchored a great number of gigantic ships with goods shipped from all over the world. In the Imperial Palace, foreign envoys came and went. The exchange of gifts between them and the royal court of Southern Song was in fact a disguised form of government-to-government trade.

A prosperous economy is a catalyst to the development of culture and education. As early as in the Song dynasty, Hangzhou was one of the three national block printing centers. In the first few years of Southern Song, the royal court ordered to have thousands of volumes of classics carved to be models. Then books were engraved from the models and they were called "jianben". At that time, nearly half of all the jianben in China were printed in Hangzhou, including the famous historical monograph Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Governance. Later, Hangzhou became number one in the block printing industry. Printing houses flourished in a great number with more than twenty having recorded names. With tidy characters engraved from skillfully cut models, white and durable paper as well as high-quality ink, the engraved books were spoken highly of as "wonders" by scholars and are still regarded so by today's scholars. Those that have been preserved until now are undoubtedly valuable cultural heritage.

Education in Southern Song was well developed as well. The royal court established the Imperial College, the Martial Arts College and the College of Rites, which were know as "three colleges". Among the three, the Imperial College was the most prestigious. There, more than 1,700 students who were divided into three grades - senior, middle and junior, studied in clean and large classrooms for free. Apart from the Imperial College, there are public schools at the prefecture level, the county level and the village level as well as numberless private schools and a few medical schools.

Among the various constructions that shaped a prosperous and picturesque Hangzhou, construction of the West Lake was sure to be one. As various terraces, pavilions and temples were erected along the bank, the past reservoir turned into a beautiful resort that attracted visitors near and afar just as it does today.

Thus, Fan Chengda, an established poet in Southern Song, wrote in one of his poems "There is a paradise in the heaven, there are Suzhou and Hangzhou on the earth" which was later changed into a more popular saying "up above there is Paradise, down here there are Suzhou and Hangzhou", a testimony to the prosperity and beauty of the city.