In 2019, Zhejiang Provincial Government issued a development blueprint for building four poetry roads in Zhejiang. One of the four ancient roads is the Poetry Road along the Ou River in southern Zhejiang. The road took shape in good old times largely thanks to the Ou River which served as the main transportation artery in the southwest of Zhejiang. During the Song Dynasty (960-1279), the river route flourished as local products such as timber, Tung oil, lacquer ware, wine, orange, and tea were transported from the forest region of the southwest of Zhejiang. These local products were shipped through the river system to reach Wenzhou, where these products were loaded onto ocean-going ships together with celadon produced in neighboring regions and shipped in separately. From Wenzhou, goods were shipped separately to Ningbo before they went to Japan and Korea in the northeastern Asia or to Quanzhou in the south where ships sailed out to markets in Southeaster Asia. The Ou River was a major outgoing trade route.

It was a route of material prosperity and it was a route of scenic beauty and cultural splendor. Xie Lingyun (385-433) began the first poem of China’s nature poetry by writing a poem about the natural beauty he saw in Yongjia. The river attracted many poets and scholars such as Du Fu, Meng Haoran, Han Yu, Shen Kuo, and Xu Xiake in subsequent dynasties. Incomplete data suggests that more than 6,000 poems were written about the natural beauty and splendor of the Ou in ancient centuries.

By writing about the natural beauty of Yongjia, Xie made Yongjia famous, attracting poets to visit Yongjia all the way from other parts of the country. Su Dongpo (1037-1101), probably the greatest poet and essayist of the Song Dynasty (960-1279), admired Xie for making Yongjia famous throughout China. He said in a letter to a friend who was a prefecture governor that he hoped the governor would follow the example of Xie Lingyun and make the prefecture under his watch famous. But there were few who could outmatch the founding father of China’s nature poems. Su Dongpo happened to be one of the few. For example, some poems Su Dongpo wrote while serving as governor of Hangzhou are the best ones still recited and quoted today about the legendary beauty of the West Lake.

The best known local poets of Yongjia are Xu Zhao, Xu Ji, Weng Juan, and Zhao Shixiu, all natives of Yongjia and contemporaries of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279). Their poetry focuses on nature and rural life. The four wrote short poems in a natural style easy to understand and free of esoteric allusions. Their poems add a touch to the poetry about Yongjia and make Yongjia famous.

In recent years, the cultural and tourism authorities of Yongjia, which is now a county under the jurisdiction of Wenzhou in southeastern Zhejiang, has been promoting Yongjia as a major tourism attraction. Landscape, intangible cultural heritage, historical celebrities, ancient villages, and Ou Kiln are the core of the regional culture. The government has picked “SONG” as a cultural symbol to signify a development strategy. SONG is the Chinese pronunciation of the Song, a dynasty that lasted from 960 to 1279. Moreover, S, the first letter of the pinyin for 山水诗 or mountain-river poetry, stands for nature poems; O refers to 瓯窑 or Ou Kiln; N indicates Nan Xi (南戏) or Southern Opera, which originated in the south of the province and is considered as the ancestry of Chinese regional operas. G stands for 古村落 or ancient villages along the Nanxi River.

Xie’s nature poems written in Yongjia are immortal in Chinese literature. They represent the most important aesthetic originality of the time: they symbolize the great discovery of nature in Chinese poetry. As Xie Lingyun is a central figure of China’s nature poems, all the poems written after him can be considered a salutation to him.

        喜欢外出旅游的行者，大多会钟情于风光旖旎的山山水水。而喜欢山水胜地的行者，有不少曾被温婉多情的瓯江山水所迷恋。于是，当人们漫步瓯江山水之间、吟咏历代山水佳作之时，会一次又一次地感受到诗和远方的美好与优雅。

        瓯江两岸有过什么名篇佳作？答曰：“池塘生春草”。这一出自《登池上楼》的名句，几乎每一个中国人都能脱口而诵。谢灵运出任永嘉太守后的第一个冬天，长久卧病，到次年初春始愈，于是登楼起兴，写下这一千古名篇。

一

        2019年，《浙江省诗路文化带发展规划》发布，在全国率先提出打造“四条诗路”，其中就包括以自然生态山水、文化古村和非遗技艺为主要载体，展现“山水诗源，东南秘境”文化印象的瓯江山水诗路。

        瓯江山水诗路的形成，缘于瓯江这条浙西南物资运输的主要水道。两宋时期，温州、处州（今丽水）两地的瓯江水路交通开始走向鼎盛，“良材兴贩自处转温，以入于海者众。”上游一带所生产的木材、桐油，以及诸如漆器、酒、柑橘、茶叶等均顺流而下，行销各地，其中大宗货物运输以瓷器为主。元代龙泉窑青瓷大量外销，出现了“瓯江两岸瓷窑林立，烟火相望，江上运瓷船舶来往如织”的繁荣景象。运输船经由栝瓯水道，沿路汇合景宁、青田、永嘉各地所出的青瓷产品抵达温州港，从温州港出发，途经洞头岛海域，入海转庆元（宁波）、泉州分销南亚、东北亚，远销地中海沿岸各国，成为温州“海上丝绸之路”的重要输出路线。以瓷器运输为主的瓯江流域水上交通线，铺垫了“瓯江诗路”的航道基础。

        这条风光无限的山水之路，在时光隧道的穿梭中，又孕育了无数的诗人与佳作。以山水诗鼻祖谢灵运为发端，历代文人墨客，如杜甫、孟浩然、韩愈、沈括、徐霞客等，都曾流连忘返于此，挥毫泼墨于此，梦笔生花于此。据不完全统计，歌咏瓯江山水及风情的诗词有6000多首，数量之多，堪比20部《唐诗三百首》。

二

        拥有如此丰富的词章与诗篇，浙南大地上的这条山水之路，自然也就成为一条充满文化底蕴的山水诗路。一代文豪苏东坡对此也曾由衷感叹：“自言官长如灵运，能使江山似永嘉。”这是苏东坡《寄题兴州晁太守新开古东池》中的诗句，希冀一位太守能使自己管辖之地的山山水水因自己的诗篇而名满天下，就像当年的永嘉郡（）山水因太守谢灵运的诗篇而扬名天下一样。

        当年永嘉太守谢灵运让永嘉山水名扬天下的诗篇，便是《登池上楼》。全诗字雕句琢，匠心独运；其中“池塘生春草”一句，连诗人自己也称“此语盖有神助”。直至南宋，著名词人张炎在他的一首《南浦》词中怀着十分仰慕的心情，化用此句而广其意：“回首池塘青欲遍，绝似梦中芳草。”不过，历史上能像谢灵运那样通过自己的诗词作品，将管辖之地的优美风光推向世人的地方官员并不多见。谢灵运之后能承其风流者，苏东坡当是一位。上引苏东坡“自言官长如灵运，能使江山似永嘉”之句，从某种意义上说，便是苏东坡将自己与谢灵运作比较的一种表现。由此，我们也就不难理解东坡每执掌一地之政，便以其诗词咏叹一地之美。今日杭州西湖能成为世人向往的旅游胜地，无疑与苏东坡“欲把西湖比西子，淡妆浓抹总相宜”的美丽描述不可分割。诗歌因山水而孕育，山水因诗歌而扬名。正是由于山水与诗歌这种剪不断、理更缠的依存关系，激发了现代人类文明进程中文旅相融的发展理念与创新实践。

        “叠叠云岚烟树榭，弯弯流水夕阳中。”作为瓯江山水诗路上最璀璨的一颗明珠，永嘉楠溪江具有“水秀、岩奇、瀑多、村古、滩林美”诸多特点。在景色迷人的楠溪江两岸，在谢灵运诗魂的感召下，又孕育了不少本土诗人。其中，尤以南宋时期的徐照、徐玑、翁卷、赵师秀等四人独树一帜，史称“永嘉四灵”。“水满田畴稻叶齐，日光穿树晓烟低”“黄梅时节家家雨，青草池塘处处蛙”“乡村四月闲人少，才了蚕桑又插田”，这些独具瓯江山水风光和情韵的诗句，至今依然令人心旷神怡。可见，以谢灵运为开端的山水诗，已将楠溪江山水铸成人们神往的游览观光之地，借用宋代词人贾收《天仙子》中的词句，便是“景物因人成胜概”也。

三

        笔者参加了前不久举行的楠溪江宋文化与旅游融合发展高峰论坛。会上，永嘉县的负责人表示，要按照文化浙江、文化温州、文化永嘉建设的要求，深入梳理永嘉的历史文脉，致力于永嘉学派和楠溪江宋文化的系统研究，传承淳朴厚重的优良传统，弘扬“义利并举、敢为人先”的永嘉精神，真正以优秀传统文化提升新时代永嘉精神内涵。同时，要围绕诗路建设、永嘉昆曲、瓯窑文化等重点，强化文化赋能旅游发展。

        近年来，永嘉结合当地实际，坚持古为今用，探索传统文化的创造性转化与创新性发展，从山水文化、非遗文化、名人文化、古村文化、瓯窑文化等一系列旅游文化符号中，提炼出“SONG”文化概念，在省内形成了有文化、有亮点、有融合的永嘉文化旅游现象。

        据永嘉相关部门负责人介绍，所谓“SONG”，既是汉语“宋”字拼音，也是“歌唱、诗歌”的英译，寓含“宋+”“音”赋能文化旅游、为永嘉文化旅游增添两翼之意。其中，S是以“山水诗”为代表的“诗歌”文化；O是以“瓯窑”为代表的“瓯”文化；N是以“南戏”（永昆、乱弹）为代表的“戏曲”文化；G是以“古村落”为代表的“耕读”文化。基于这样的理念，永嘉将全力打造瓯江山水诗路核心地，用诗歌文化为永嘉旅游赋能。

        作为全省诗路e站首批建设布局点，永嘉已启动了“数字诗路e站”建设工作，利用影像、VR/AR、3D全息投影等数字技术手段，整合开发瓯江山水诗路沿线地区的诗词、景点、历史遗存和非遗传说等IP资源，特别是永嘉山水诗文化和谢灵运IP符号，构建虚实结合的瓯江山水诗路数字化平台，打造永嘉诗歌文化的文化地标。

        永嘉文旅融合发展所提炼的这样一种核心理念，一定程度上体现了瓯江山水诗路建设与发展的创新实践。追求瓯江山水诗路的文旅融合，从某种意义上说，便是探寻瓯江山水诗路的传统与未来，实现瓯江山水诗路阅历和活力的深度融合。这种融合，实际上也是人们强调空间中的历史记忆的积淀，重视山水自然中所注入、传承、不断经典化的人文内涵。

        永嘉山水因谢灵运诗歌而被注入了文化内涵。当年，谢灵运行走在永嘉山水之间所写下的不朽诗篇，代表了魏晋南北朝以来重要的美学创造，即对自然美的发现。由于谢灵运在中国山水诗传统中不可替代的地位，后代数不清的瓯江山水诗，从某种程度上说都是向他的敬礼。

        从历史和现实的关系看，人类一直行走在消逝中，也一直行走在变迁中。一个人的魅力来自活力，也同样来自阅历；一个民族的魅力来自强盛，同样也来自传统。消逝的历史，让人更加怀念传统；变迁的现实，让人更加向往未来。因此，追求瓯江山水诗路的文旅融合，实际上就是要充分汲取传统文化中的精华，并在当今经济社会建设中发扬光大。这种以崇尚人文、重视文教为基础的文旅融合，既是经济社会发展的持续动力，也是保障经济成功的不竭源泉。因此，我有理由相信，昔日清新脱俗的瓯江山水文化与今日瓯江山水诗路的文旅融合，将成为一种可以期待的美好前景。