欧阳修与太守宴：一场醉意山水、与民同乐的雅集！
太守宴，源于北宋文豪欧阳修的《醉翁亭记》。
醉翁亭 The Pavilion of the Drunken Old Man
宋朝是一个具有别样魅力的朝代，尤其是北宋的文人官员，他们深谙“达则兼济天下，穷则独善其身”之理，官做得好，宽严有度的治政之外，超然洒脱，富有生活情趣。著名的《西园雅集图》描绘了神宗元丰年间，王诜邀请苏轼、黄庭坚、米芾等人的一场游园聚会，类于兰亭雅集。米芾为此图作记云：“水石潺潺，风竹相吞，炉烟方袅，草木自馨。人间清旷之乐，不过如此……”
欧阳修雕像 The bronze statue of Ouyang Xiu
欧阳修喜欢这种文人雅集，呼朋引伴，宴请宾客，联诗斗酒。年轻时“曾是洛阳花下客”，到了地僻民安的滁州，更是满血复活。他为政宽简，公干之余便优游山水，访古探奇，吟诗作文;也常与田夫野老为伴，以木石清音为伍，畅饮酿泉之酒，品尝山肴野蔌，其乐陶陶。他主导修筑醉翁亭、丰乐亭、醒心亭，开发山谷幽泉，手植梅树、芍药等佳木美草。醉翁亭如轻盈的飞鸟，凌于让泉之上;丰乐亭位于丰山之谷，三面竹岭环抱，其间有泉，泉上佳木葱茏。此两处建筑既为山行者遮阳挡雨，提供休憩，也是欧公观赏山水、聚会宴饮之处。欧公的手植梅树，历风雨千载，依然吐香如故。每年三月，醉翁亭内这株“千年欧梅”惊艳绽放，老树虬枝，繁花如雪，层层叠叠，那种“砌下落梅如雪乱，拂了一身还满”的意境，伞一样铺满庭院。
赏梅 Plum blossoms
“临溪而渔，溪深而鱼肥，酿泉为酒，泉香而酒洌，山肴野蔌，杂然而前陈者，太守宴也。”太守邀文友嘉宾、同僚下属游览琅琊胜景，宾主溪涧逮鱼摸虾捉山蟹、山上林中采摘野果野蔌，或就地烹煮或借炊山野人家，大家围席而坐，推杯换盏，吟诗作对，盛大的太守宴就开始了。太守宴中美酒美食，自然来自滁州本土原生态风物。滁州，江畔淮左，山清水秀，稻香鱼肥，物产丰饶。今天的明光老酒，秦栏卤鹅、雷官板鸭、女山湖大闸蟹、管坝牛肉、池河梅白鱼、炉桥桥尾、凤阳酿豆腐、琅琊酥糖……不胜枚举的美食，想来都是当年独具特色的“山肴野蔌”吧。
野芳园 Yefang Garden
当然，欧阳修的太守宴不止于美酒佳肴，还有更重要的山水之趣、“醉”“乐”之意：有宴席边滁人的游赏之乐：“负者歌于途，行者休于树，前者呼，后者应，伛偻提携，往来而不绝者，滁人游也”;有嘉宾僚属的宴酣之乐：“非丝非竹，射者中，弈者胜，觥筹交错，起坐而喧哗者，众宾欢也”，没有乐器伴奏，却有山中禽鸟和鸣;没有宫廷宴饮的奢华，却有流觞曲水的雅趣，有猜拳射弈的欢畅;山水之间，庙堂近远，醉翁亭中杯不空，这样一场山林间的雅集，太守怎能不醉?“苍颜白发，颓然乎其间者，太守醉也。”醉于禽鸟山林之乐，醉于滁人宴游之乐，醉于太守之乐其乐，与民同乐!
欧梅吐香 The plum tree planted by Ouyang Xiu
“醉翁之意不在酒”，欧公的快意中裹挟着的是对滁州山水小城乡野民情的眷恋和沉醉;太守宴之“意”，是太守与滁人、嘉宾共享美酒、美食、美景的一场醉意山水、与民同乐的雅集之乐。
醉翁摩崖石刻 Stone inscription by Ouyang Xiu
“我亦且如常日醉，莫教弦管作离声。”庆历八年，欧阳修离开滁州赴扬州任太守，他将这种“太守之宴，与众宾欢，与民同乐”的雅集之“醉”作了进一步的发挥。扬州至今还流传着欧阳修坐花载月、风流宛在的典故。
深秀湖 Shenxiu Lake
今天的滁州欧公后人，根据《醉翁亭记》醉意山水、与民同乐的雅集之意，创造性发掘了滁州“太守宴”的美食文化意蕴，推出了“五彩丰乐、非丝非竹、风霜高洁、暮色琅琊”等诗情画意的美食系列。这既是一种美食融于山水、人文的文化传承，也是寄情山水、与民同乐的精神传承吧。
The Prefect’s Banquet (Taishou Yan in Chinese) originated from The Pavilion of the Drunken Old Man by Ouyang Xiu, a much celebrated writer in the Song dynasty and prefect of Chuzhou when he wrote that piece of prose.
Ouyang Xiu often invited his literati friends to his parties, in which they would co-write poems and enjoy drinking. He did so after he was appointed prefect of Chuzhou, a remote yet peaceful city where he later lived a carefree life. In his spare time, he either indulged himself in the nature and wrote poems, or enjoyed delicious food and good wines with ordinary people. For their gatherings, three pavilions were built—the Pavilion of the Drunken Old Man, Fengle Pavilion, and Xingxin Pavilion. All have survived through history. The first pavilion is beside Rangquan Spring on Langya Mountain, and the second one is at the foot of Fengshan Mountain. Here visitors can not only take a rest during their trips, but also enjoy the beautiful scenery of mountain and spring. Besides building pavilions, Ouyang also relished planting flowers such as plum blossoms and peonies. The plum tree he planted in the Pavilion of theDrunken Old Man is still flourishing, putting forth snow-white blooms and presenting a poetic scene every March.
雨后流泉 Bubbling spring after raining
Several years later, Ouyang left Chuzhou to serve as prefect in Yangzhou, where he carried forward his banquet and continued sharing the pleasure of pastoral life with his people. The story of Ouyang’s fondness for landscape and wines are still told by Yangzhou’s people, and the Prefect’s Banquet also became a famous set meal in local cuisine.
Today Chuzhou people have revived the Prefect’s Banquet to offer a series of cuisine, such as “Colorful Harvest”, “A Pleasure Beyond Instruments”, “Crisp Air and Light Frost”, and “Langya Mountain at Sunset”. What they inherit, I suppose, is not only the culture of integrating food with landscape and people, but also the spirit of maintaining harmony with nature and sharing with others.
